
41 



| LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.' 

I Sf,e,fS±BA.. ' 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



.w 



THE 



FI RST BOOK 



SATIRES OF HORA CE 

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM RICH'S " ANTIQUITIES ; " 
A LIFE OF HORACE ; 

AND ARTICLES ON THE ROMAN HOUSE, AMPHITHEATRE, 
THEATRE, AND CIRCUS. 

/ 

By R. M. MILLINGTON, M.A. 



LONDON : 
LONGMANS, GREEN, READER, & DYER, 

PATERNOSTER ROW. 
1870. 



^ 






S> 



LONDON : 

J. AND W. RIDER, PRINTERS, 

BARTHOLOMEW CLOSE. 



INTRODUCTION. 

The special object of this translation is to offer to the general 
public an accurate and readable version of the wit and wisdom 
contained in this portion of the works of Horace, combined 
with such explanatory notes as make all the allusions tolerably 
clear to a non-classical reader. For the woodcuts, taken from 
Rich's "Antiquities," no apology seems needed. 

The metre chosen is the same as Goldsmith uses in " The 
Haunch of Venison " and " The Retaliation," and appears 
well adapted for the playful lightness and conversational 
freedom of Horace's satiric writing. The English heroic, 
although it suits Pope's satire well enough, seems to have a 
conscious stiffness about it that, unless treated by a perfect 
master in the art, is liable to give a somewhat clumsy im- 
portance to what Horace himself terms " sermoni propiora " 
(Sat. IV., 42, Bk. I.), "sermoiies repentes pei' hianinn" (Ep. L, 250, 
Bk. II.), " satiris musaque pedestri" (Sat. VI., 17, Bk. II.); or 
else an undignified dropping of the serious style which so 
well suits the heroic in translating such a satirist as Juvenal, 
without attaining to the ease and lightness of the Horatian 
hexameter. 

From the above expressions, as applied to his own satiric 
writing, and the roughness of many of his lines, it is obvious 



IV INTRODUCTION. 



that Horace did not deem strictness of metre of paramount 
importance. 

The best index of the difficulty of translating this part of 
Horace's works is the infrequency of the attempt, and it 
seems much to be regretted that a genius combining the 
verve and caustic point of a Thackeray with the fluent versi- 
fication of a Byron has not arisen to do justice to the old 
Roman bard. 

Orelli's text and notes have been consulted throughout. 
It may be as well to say a few words on the distinctive 
features of the satire and philosophy of Horace, as it is very 
possible that many, who are not acquainted with this part 
of his works, may conclude that the one is merely a denuncia- 
tion against men's vices and defects, and that the other is 
either vague and dreamy, or Utopian and impossible. 

The chief characteristic of Horatian satire is, that instead of 

lashing vice and human weakness with the uncompromising 

severity and indignant sarcasm of a Juvenal, it rather, with a 

pleasant vein of irony and playful personality, gently reproves 

md remonstrates than summarily condemns. And while 

entirely allowing that it was quite desirable that there should 

irise a Juvenal to brand with infamy such reigns of terror and 

excess as that of Domitian, the author unhesitatingly claims for 

Horace immunity from the charge of sympathizing with vice. 

f f the real end and purpose of satire be to check, not merely to 

aveigh against vice, Horace's method of handling the subject 

-eems the best calculated to attain that end. And that he 

leliberately chose that method, not from a secret leaning 

:o the vices and follies he satirized, but with the true instinct 

of a master of his art, and from the teaching of his own philo- 



INTRODUCTION. 



sophy, those who attentively read this portion of his works 
can have no reasonable doubt. Men are not so likely to 
listen to or profit by the fierce strictures of a satirist who 
in his writings apparently exhibits not only the utmost disdain 
and abhorrence of vice, but seems to arrogate to himself 
exemption from most of the weaknesses poor humanity has 
ever been subject to. The feeling created in the minds of the 
satirized is much more likely to be one of antagonism, or even 
more likely of indifference, on the ground that such a satirist 
really cannot fully understand human nature. 

Horace, on the contrary, knew human nature thoroughly; 
and the consummate address with which, while holding vice up 
to ridicule, he carefully avoids giving any impression that he is 
himself exempt from it, combined with the genial kindliness of 
a nature that satire cannot conceal, must have at once given 
him the advantage of being fully intelligible to his readers as a 
satirist, and, from his relations with Maecenas his patron, and 
through him with the Emperor Augustus, must have secured 
for his writings the attention of most of the influential men of 
his day. No one had more real friends than Horace, no poet 
was more really liked by the powerful, although the aristocracy 
of Rome were as exclusive and haughty as the old Bourbons 
themselves. The bearing, at once liberal and independent, and 
yet modest and unassuming, that he ever preserved, in spite 
of the suddenness of his rise and the consequent difficulty 
of the rule he had to play in a city where adroit flattery 
was far more acceptable than real and unpretending merit, 
deserves the warmest commendation. Shall we assign .as 
reasons for this popularity (as a satirist) that he tacitly approved 
of, at all events, the milder vices, and that, with the spirit of a 



VI INTRODUCTION. 



courtier, he merely modified his tone to suit the times, or that 
he recognised the absurdity of attempting to preach to an 
audience in a language which, if they heard, they would 
not understand ; and which, if they understood, they would 
probably pretend not to hear? Let those who read him 
judge. The author is quite content to believe as much good 
as possible of a writer who, beyond dispute, was not only 
a great satirist, but who was a genial companion, a thorough 
gentleman, a firm friend, and singularly free from prejudice. 

With regard to his philosophy it is enough to say that, while 
carefully and critically culling the good from the various 
systems that then engrossed men's minds and attention, he 
never absolutely adhered to the tenets of any one, but seems 
to have had firmer faith in the wisdom to be derived from that 
maxim, "the golden mean," which more or less tinctures his 
writing. 



LIFE OF HORACE. 



In December of the year 65 B.C., in the consulship of Lucius 
Aurelius Cotta and Lucius Manlius Torquatus, was born the 
great Roman poet and satirist of the Augustan age, Quintus 
Horatius Flaccus. His birthplace was a small town then 
called Venusia or Venusium, and now Venosa, situated in 
Apulia, and only separated from Lucania by a chain of moun- 
tains about one mile to the south of the town, which formed 
the natural boundary between the two countries. His father, 
whose condition was that of a freedman, while exercising the 
humble calling of collector of the salt fish revenues, had 
acquired means enough to purchase a small farm near Venusia, 
on the banks of the river Aufidus, now called the Ofanto. 
The first ten or eleven years of the poet's life were passed in 
this small town, when the father, dissatisfied with the advan- 
tages afforded by the tenth-rate academy of Flavius at Venusia, 
and probably even then perceiving some indications of the 
genius his son afterwards manifested, removed to Rome, and 
placed him under the care of a celebrated schoolmaster named 
Orbilius Pupillus of Beneventum, now Eenevento ; under 
whose tuition he became acquainted with the more ancient 
poets of Rome, such as Livius, Ennius, and Lucilius, whose 
satiric writing Horace has himself told us that he imitated. 
He next learned the Greek language, and read some of the 
literature of Greece; and so, while the father was plying his 
humble calling of broker's clerk, or tax-gatherer, the son was 



Vlll 



LIFE OF HORACE. 



receiving instruction and advantages suited even to the sons of 
the oldest aristocracy of Rome. The poet himself pays a grace- 
ful tribute of acknowledgment to this self-denial on the part of 
the father, and to his careful training, in the Sixth Satire of the 
First Book, where, alluding to the former, he says, — 

" But if my character be sullied by more venial defects, and 
those but few, and be good in the main; if none shall fairly 
charge me with the fault of avarice, or meanness, or bad com- 
pany; if I be pure and guiltless; if, to praise .myself, I live 
dear to my friends, — my father was the cause of this ; for he, 
though poor, sent me to Rome to learn accomplishments 
which any gentleman of property, or any member of the House, 
might get his children taught." 

And to the latter, — 

" In rine, he kept me chastely free from all immoral deeds ; 
nor that alone, but e'en from slander's slur, and purity like this 
is youthful virtue's brightest crown." 

When about twenty or one-and-twenty years of age, Horace 
went to Athens to complete his education ; and here, while 
learning philosophic truth " 'mid Academus' groves," he found, 
for his fellow-students, the son of Cicero, Varus, and Messalla. 
Meantime the crash of civil war had burst in Rome : the 
Dictator Caesar had fallen by the assassins dagger: — Antony was 
bending all his energies to raise from the embers of his power 
a tyranny more to be dreaded, while Brutus and Cassius were 
at Athens endeavouring to enrol under their banner the young 
Romans who were there quietly pursuing their studies, as yet 
uninfluenced by the tide of anarchy and the fierce rivalry of 
faction. Horace joined the republican army, and finished an 
uneventful campaign of nearly two years in Macedonia by 
serving as a general officer at the battle of Philippi, now 
Filibah, against Mark Antony and Octavianus, as Augustus 
then was called, in which Brutus and Cassius were totally 



LIFE OF HORACE. IX 



defeated; and the poet fled from the battle-field, and repaired 
to Rome, after saving his life (but not his small property at 
Venusia, which was confiscated), intending to maintain himself 
by his pen. His father was now dead, and it was no bright 
opening for the young Venusian to appear as a political rene- 
gade, without fame and without patronage, in a town like 
Rome, where the courtier and the informer too often found 
the way to honour and distinction easier than the man of genius 
or merit. However, as he says himself, " my poverty compelled 
me to write verses," and although it was satire that he wrote 
(for from his satires alone he gained his early and most lasting 
fame), we find him soon attracting the notice of Virgil and 
Varius, and, through their recommendation, securing the 
patronage of Caius Cilnius Maecenas, the intimate friend and 
chief counsellor, together with Agrippa, of the Emperor 
Augustus. He was now twenty-seven years of age ; had won 
for himself a name among the most celebrated literary men of 
the day, such as Virgih Ovid, and Tibullus ; enjoyed the friend- 
ship of the Emperor, of Maecenas, and of such men as Marcus 
Vipsanius Agrippa, Caius Asinius Pollio, and Quintus ^Elius 
Lamia. 

He was now secured from want, and received, as marks of 
his patron's favour and esteem, a romantic villa at Tibur, now 
Tivoli, on the banks of the Anio, now the Teverone, and a 
retired farm in the eastern extremity of the country of the Sa- 
bines, in one or other of which he spent a great part of his time, 
and ever preferred the simple country life to the pomp and 
bustle of Rome. And there is no need to suppose that this 
love of retirement was due to anything but the teaching of his 
own philosophy, for he had offers of positions of emolument; 
and, indeed, the Emperor Augustus, when the weight of su- 
preme rule began to be felt and his health to suffer, desired 
that Horace would accept the office of private secretary, and 



LIFE OF HORACE. 



this Augustus more especially wished so that the poet might 
conduct the correspondence between himself and his private 
friends, — an office for which Horace must have been singu- 
larly qualified. The poet, however, declined the offer; and 
still enjoyed the imperial friendship. Maecenas gave a signal 
proof of the affection with which he regarded him, for in 
his last communication to the Emperor he said, " Remember 
Horatius Flaccus even as you remember me." We learn 
from his own writings that Horace was fond of warmth and 
sunny weather ; that his hair was grey early in life ; that he 
was short and corpulent, and suffered from weak digestion 
and sore eyes, — a bodily defect very common among the 
Romans. His manner of living was abstemious, and he was 
moderate and temperate in his pleasures; and his convivial 
hours were ever marked by social wit and philosophical wisdom. 
He died in November of the year 8 B.C., or the early part of 
December, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, having survived 
his patron by a few weeks only, was buried near him on the 
Esquiline hill, and left his property to the Emperor. 

The dates and order of his publications are as follow :■ — 

I. The First Book of the Satires, B.C. 35. 
II. The Second Book of the Satires, between 35 and 
30 B.C. 

III. The Epodes, b.c 29 or 30. 

IV. The First Three Books of the Odes, between 30 and 

24 B.C. 
V. The First Book of the Epistles, between 24 and 20 B.C. 
VI. The Carmen Seculare, 17 B.C. 
VII. The Fourth Book of the Odes, between 17 and 13 b.c 
VIII. The Second Book of the Epistles, after the Carmen 
Seculare, but the year is uncertain. 
IX. Art of Poetry, — quite uncertain. 

The reader will find his philosophy alluded to in the follow- 
ing parts of the Satires and Epistles : — 





LIFE 


OF 


HORACE. xi 


Satires. 


Bk. I., Satire 


I. 




j> 


Bk. II., Satire 


2. 


First paragraph. 


?> 


„ Satire 


4- 


Apology for Epicurus. 


55 


„ Satire 


6. 




55 


„ Satire 


7- 


By the mouth of Davus, in 
the last long paragraph. 


Epistles. 


Bk. L, Epistle 


i. 


In the first part. 


55 


„ Epistle 


4- 


In the latter part. 


» 


„ Epistle 


6. 


In the first part. 


55 


„ Epistle 


18. 


In the latter part. 


55 


„ Epistle 


20. 


In the latter part. 


55 


Bk. II., Epistle 


2. 


In the latter part. 


VIRGIL'S 1 


ECLOGUES, with Notes, translated into Rhythmic Prose 




for the Student. 


Price 2s. 6d. 


The Same into English Verse, with 


a Life, and Notes for General 


Readers. Elegantly bound, 


price 5s. (Preparing.) 



DOMUS, 

OR ROMAN PRIVATE HOUSE. 



The Roman houses were generally built upon the same plan, 
differing from one another only in the size, number, and 
arrangement of the apartments they contained, or the extent 
and character of the ground on which they stood. They were 
divided into two principal members, as shown by the ground 
plan annexed. The several apartments mentioned made the 
nucleus of the house on its ground plan, and are always found 



IT 



J L 



jl: 

c : 

ft 

B 

it 



ttMimi 

Ground plan of private house. 

in every Roman house of any size. The relative situations 
were always fixed, and they were constructed according to a 
received model, as shown in the above plan, a a a represents 
the prothyrum or entrance passage from the street (for which 
see illustration on next page representing the prothynim), and 
at its further end the ostium, a door half closed, which was used 



DOMUS. 



to shut off the atrium (see woodcut to Atrium) from the entrance 
passage. The pavement was generally mosaic, and the usual 
word of salutation {salve) was inlaid in coloured stone at the 
entrance (see illustration to Pavimentum). Janua was the 
street door, as distinguished from the ostium, as shown by the 
annexed illustration. 

b b b, in the ground plan, refer to the atrium, or principal 
apartment in a Roman house, with its appropriate dependences 




Prothyj'um, or entrance passage 
from the street. 



Janua , front or street door. 



all round it, as shown by the illustrations on page xiv, and also 
by the one termed cavcedium (cavum tedium), which shows the 
atrium from the outside. 

c c c, in the ground plan, refers to the pcristylium, with i'ts 
appurtenances beyond. The parts of the house belonging to 
the peristylium were connected by an intermediate room called 



XIV 



DOMUS. 



the tablinum, or one or two corridors termed fauces, and occa- 
sionally by both. 

The letters d d d, in the ground plan, refer to the tablinum, 
as shown by the illustration on page xv. The part immediately 
in front of the drawing is the floor of the atrium, with a portion 




Atrium Tuscanicum, or principal 
apartment, in the Tuscan style. 



Atrium Tetrastylum, or principal 
apartment, supported by four columns. 



of its impluvium (see woodcut for Impluvium) ; the dark open 
recess occupying the left half of the middle ground is the 
tablinum, with the colonnade of the peristylium showing 
through, and the small door at the right of it is the faux, or 
corridor, which also opens upon the peristylium at its further 
extremity. The apartment is entirely open at both ends, so as 




Cavcedium (cavum czdium), or outside view of the atrium, 

to permit a continuous view through both divisions of the 
house ; but those ends were closed when desired by moveable 
screens or partitions of wood called tab alee which is evident, 
from there being a separate passage at the side to afford com- 
munication between the atrium and peristylium, which would 



DOMUS. 



XV 



not be required if the tablinum permitted a thoroughfare 
always through it. The name tablinum is probably derived 
from these tabula, or screens. 




Peristylium, or second and inner divi- Tablinum, one of the principal pri- 

sion of a Roman house, generally vate apartments in a Roman house, 

the domestic apartments occupied adjoining the atrium and fauces •, 

by the proprietor and family. or corridors. 

Coinpluviitm, a large square opening in the centre, of the 
roof which covered the four sides of the atrium, and towards 
which three sides converged for the purpose of carrying down 
the rain into a reservoir (impluviuni) . 




Latrina, showing the washing-places, w.c, &c, and offices near 
kitchen, in a private house. 



XVI 



DOMUS. 



Latrina (lavatri/ia), the wash-places and offices contiguous 
to the kitchens. The two small arches on the right form the 
kitchen stove. Four steps lead down to the room, and have 
a hand rail by their side to aid the ascent or descent, the 
mark of which is shown on the wall. The recess to the left is 
the latrina, originally closed by a wooden door, which has left 
the marks of its hinges and bolt on the edge of the door-frame ; 
and the mouth of the pipe through which the place was supplied 
with water is observable in the right-hand comer. 

Ara, or altar, placed close by the impluvium of a private 
house, on which the family sacrifice was made. The ai'a is on 
the margin of the reservoir, or impluvium, in the right-hand 
woodcut on page xv, which shows both. 

Alee were large recesses in Roman houses of any pretensions 
to magnificence, generally one on each side of the atrium, 
furnished with seats, and closed in front with curtains, intended 




CellcE, or dormitories Tor slaves of the house. 

for the master of the house to receive his visitors in and to 
enjoy the conversation of his acquaintance. The entrance to 
the alee is formed by the two large doorways with the curtains 
drawn aside at the further angle of the chamber on the right 
and left. (See illustration on p. xiv.) 

Cryptce, enclosed cloisters or galleries generally built round 
the inner courtyards of Roman villas and farmhouses, for the 
purpose of storing grain, fruits, and all produce that required 
both air and immunity from damp. 

Cellce were dormitories for household slaves, as the annexed 



DOMUS. 



XV11 



illustration represents. They were often found in Roman 
villas, and the fronts were originally bricked in with only an 
entrance door. 

Chalcidicum. — This was a large, low, deep porch, covered 
with its own roof, supported on pilasters, and appended to the 
entrance front of a building, and forming a grand entrance to 
the whole edifice. It was added to private as well as public 
buildings, not merely as an ornament, but also to give shelter 
to persons waiting outside to be admitted, or to transact public 
business in. 




Chalcidicum, or large entrance porch to a private or 
public building. 

Fenestra. — The illustration on p. xviii represents three ancient 
windows of different designs : the one on the left hand being 
from a Greek bas-relief in the British Museum ; that on the 
right from the Vatican Virgil, and the centre one from a 
marble sarcophagus of a later period found in the Vatican 
cemetery. 

In later times the walls of dwelling-houses and rooms were 
sometimes decorated with imaginary views of country scenery, 

B 



XV111 



DOMUS. 



ports, and temples, termed topia, as shown by the annexed 
illustration. 

Pavimentum.< — A flooring composed of small pieces of brick, 
tile, stone, and shells, set in a bed of cement, and consolidated 
by beating with a rammer {favicula\ which gave rise to the 
name : afterwards applied to any kind of artificial flooring, even 
of the most elaborate workmanship, like those shown by the 
illustrations on next page. 



l^tev^J 




Fenestra, or windows 



Topia, or landscape paintings. 



Pavimentum sectile. — This was a flooring composed of pieces 
of different coloured marbles, cut (secta) into sets of regular 
form or size, so that when joined together the whole constituted 
an ornamental design or pattern, as exhibited by the annexed 
specimen. The objects at the top show the different forms of 
the pieces with which it is composed : the triangular ones, a 
and b, consist of serpentine and palombino respectively; the hex- 
agonal, c, of pavonazzetto ; and the square, d, of red porphyry. 

Pavimentu?n tesselatum, or tesseris struct um. — This is a 
flooring belonging to the class of sectilia, and also of an orna- 
mental character, composed of coloured marbles. The pieces 
composing it were cut into regular dies without the admixture 
of other forms, as in the annexed example, showing part of a 
pavement in the Thermae of Caracalla at Rome. Square dies 
(tesse//ce, tesserce) were likewise employed in making other kinds 



DOMUS. 



XIX 



of mosaic pavements, as in the following specimen ; but in 
that case they were of smaller dimensions and less precise in 
their angles. 

Pavimentum vermiculatu??i. — A mosaic flooring or pavement 
representing natural objects, both animate and inanimate, in 




Pavimentum sectile, or flooring composed of pieces of 
different coloured marble. 

their real forms and colours, as in a picture. It was composed 
with small pieces of different coloured marbles, inlaid in a bed 
of very strong cement, the colours and arrangement of the 



Pi 1 1 


. : . , . ... 

\] rrn ' i • i ™ 


kj~r 


i i I M i i i i i 


i i 1 1 i i 


pi; 


I--'! . J 1 1 M ! ! " 


i i.-.-j ».:.'! \, '!' 


n 


i H I.I i 






en 


1 1 1 


i 


i i 


J ~T 


n in - 


U>- 


VI 1 


i 


i i 


i 


1 1 




m 


_J ; ; ... 




i | 


1 ' 






Jki 


i l 


1 1 


i 1 


i 


n r 




i ,, 


■j_ 


i \ 




.1 


i : ~ri 


jklkiL 


_ 1 


i,i 


I 


j 


f,, ; ; i 


II" !w 1 


45 


: 


jr 


i i , 


( ; i 


§4_! 


i 


-M 


-44- 


44- 


Hh 



Pavimentum tesselatum> flooring with pieces of marble 
cut in regular dies. 

pieces being selected and disposed so as to imitate the object 
designed with a good deal of pictorial effect. The dies were 
not exactly square, nor laid in parallel lines; but they fol- 
lowed the sweep and undulations in the contours and colours 
of the objects reproduced, which, when viewed at a little dis- 



XX 



DOMUS. 



tance, presented a resemblance to the wreathing and twisting 
of a cluster of worms (vermes), and thus suggested the name. 

Pavimentum scalpturatum. — An ornamental flooring or pave- 
ment on which the design is produced by engraving (scalpturd), 
and perhaps inlaying, but, as the name implies, by a different 
process or in a different manner from the kinds already de- 




Pavimentum vermiculatum, a mosaic 
flooring representing natural ob- 
jects, animate or inanimate. 



Pavimentum scalptiiratu??i, orna- 
mental flooring on which the 
design is engraved or inlaid, 
but by a different process from 
any of the others. 

scribed. Though this kind of pavement was simple at first, this 
style of decorative art was sometimes carried to great perfec- 



ts^! 



%* 



i 



i i 






Alexandrinum opus, mosaic flooring for rooms. 

tion, and in such a way that the effect of a finished cartoon was 
produced on the pavement by inserting pieces of grey marble 



DOMUS. XXI 



for the half-tints into white ; then hatching across both with 
the chisel, and filling in the incisions with black mastic for the 
shade, so that the whole looks like a finished chalk drawing. 
The illustration is a fac-simile of one of the groups designed by 
the artist Beccafiume. 

Alexandrinum opus. — A particular kind of mosaic work, 
especially used for the flooring of rooms, and belonging to the 
class of pavements termed sectilia; the distinctive character of 
which consisted in this, that the frets or patterns forming the 
designs were composed of the conjunction of only two colours 
— red and black, for instance — on a white ground, as in the 
example, which represents a portion of a pavement in a house 
at Pompeii. 



AMPHITHEATRUM. 



i. Amphitheatrum, a building constructed for the exhibi- 
tion of gladiatorial combats, and sometimes used for other 
spectacles. The illustration shows the exterior view. 




Exterior view of amphitheatrum still standing at Pola in Istria, showing 
the oval wall divided into stories of arcades, decorated with columns and 
pilasters. 

2. The next illustration shows the interior view of the 
amphitheatre at Pompeii ; but as the drawing is on a very 
reduced scale, and indistinct through the dilapidations of the 
building, it should be compared with the woodcut, No. 3, that 
follows this, in which full particulars are given. 
^-^-^ 




Interior view of amphitheatre, forming an elliptical cup {caved), set round 
with seats, containing arena, and other parts enumerated in the next 
woodcut 



AMPHITHEATRUM. 



XX111 



3. This woodcut shows a restored section and elevation of a 
portion of the amphitheatre at Pola. The company entered 
through the arches on the ground-floor at the left-hand side 
of the engraving, a is the podium, which is approached 
by a short staircase springing from the third or inner cor- 
ridor in the centre of the woodcut. It is raised above 
the arena by a blank wall, surmounted by a balustrade, 
under which is seen one of the doorways through which the 






!!I 



j_ 




Restored section and elevation of amphitheatre at Pola, with 
detailed account of the parts. 

wild beasts or combatants emerged upon the arena. The 
staircase, which commences immediately from the ground 
entrance, leads directly to the first mcenianum (1), or flight, 
into several of which flights the gradus or circles of seats occu- 
pied by the public were divided, when the building was lofty, 
by broad landing-places (prcecinetiones) and raised walls (baltei), 
and vertically into compartments in the form of an inverted 
triangle (cunei) by a number of staircases {scalce) which com- 
municated with the avenues of ingress and egress (vomitoria) 
within the shell of the building. The spectator entered the 



XXIV 



AMPHITHEATRUM. 



rnamianum i, referred to above, through the doorways (yomi- 
toria) b, and descended the flights of stairs which divide the 
rows of seats between them into a wedge-shaped compartment 
(ciineus), until he came to the particular row where his seat was 
reserved. The high blank wall into which the entrance (b) 
opens is the balteus, and its object was to separate the various 
mceniana and prevent the classes who were only entitled to a 
seat in the upper mamiana from descending into the lower 
ones. A branch staircase diverging to the left leads up to the 
corridor formed by the arcades of the outer wall, from whence 
it turns to the right and conducts to the second mmiianutn (2), 
which is entered and distributed in the same way as the lower 
one, and separated from the one above by another balteus (c). 
Other staircases, though they cannot be shown on one section, 
conduct in like manner to the third mcenianum (3), and to the 
covered gallery for the women above (d). The three solid 
arches in the centre of the engraving, constructed in the main 
brickwork of the building, form a succession of corridors 
encircling the whole edifice, from which the different staircases 
spring, while at the same time they support the seats of the 
cavea and the flights of stairs by which the company entered 
or left the amphitheatre. 




Manianum, showing ranges of seats with compartments {cunci), 
from the theatre at Pompeii. 

4. This illustration gives a separate view of mceniana, or 
entire ranges of seats rising in concentric circles between one 



AMPHITHEATRUM. 



XXV 



landing-place (prcEcinctio) and another, but divided perpen- 
dicularly into a number of compartments {cunei) by the flights 
of steps (scalce) which the spectators descended or ascended to 
and from their places. The engraving shows a portion of two 
mczniana containing three cunei. Each mcznianum comprised 
an entire circuit. 



THEATRUM. 

(Or chest ra^ Pidpitutn, Proscenium.) 

The Roman theatre was originally a temporary wooden 
scaffolding, erected for the occasion, and when no longer 
needed, pulled down. It was afterwards constructed of 
brick or stone, with considerable architectural beauty and 
magnificence of decoration. It was usually built upon a 
level space within the town, and consisted externally of a 
/semicircular elevation at one end, comprising one or more 
stories of arcades, through which the spectators entered and 




Circular end of the theatre of Marcellus. 

passed by staircases constructed within them to a number 
of semicircular tiers of seats in the interior of the building, 
which were enclosed by the external wall described, and 
exhibited by the illustration showing the circular end of 



THEATRUM. 



XXV11 



the theatre of Marcel lus as it now exists in partial ruins at 
Rome. Two stories only remain — the lower one, of the Doric 
order, partly embedded in the soil : over this the Ionic is more 
perfect. But there was originally a third story, of the Corinthian 
order, which has entirely disappeared. Ihe circular line of 
the plan is distinctly apparent in the drawing, as well as the 
columns which decorated each story and the stonework of the 
arches between them, which formed so many open arcades, 
now filled up by the wall and windows of modern houses, into 




Ground plan of Pompey's theatre at Rome. 

which the edifice has been transformed. The opposite ex- 
tremity of the building, which contained the stage, apartments 
for the use of the actors, and conveniences for storing property, 
was flat, forming as it were a chord or base to the semicircle, 
and was decorated externally by a portico (porticas), (see article 
on Amphitheatrum^ the exterior view,) sometimes of consider- 
able extent, containing numerous colonnades, open or covered 
walks, and corridors, and forming a favourite resort for the 
idle and fashionable loungers of the city. A portion of these 
appurtenances, sufficient to give an accurate notion of the 
entire structure, is exhibited by the lowest part of the annexed 
illustration, which represents the ground plan of Pompey's 



XXV111 



THEATRUM. 



theatre at Rome, showing the portico at the bottom marked in 
black lines, then the walls of the scene and stage, and beyond 
them the circular seats for the spectators, which were enclosed 
externally by a wall similar to that exhibited in the first illus- 
tration. The interior was open to the sky, having no roof, and 
consisted of the following essential parts, distributed in the 
manner shown by the annexed engraving representing the 




t> o 



© o 



Ground plan of theatre at Herculaneum. 

ground plan of the theatre at Herculaneum, which is con- 
structed upon the Roman model. The body of the house 
(cavea), where the spectators sat, consists of a number of semi- 
circular rows of seats formed by deep steps (gradus) rising 
in concentric lines one above the other, which were sub- 
divided horizontally into tiers (tnamiana\ (see Amphithea- 
trum for the terms,) comprising several rows each by broad 



THEATRUM. 



XXIX 



landing-places (prcecinctiones, a a, a a), and vertically into 
cuneiform compartments (cunei, b b b b b) by a number of 
staircases (scales, a a a a a), down which the spectators de- 
scended to the row where their respective places were situated, 
upon entering the house through the open doorways (vomitoria, 




Orchestra of Greek or Roman theatre. 

b b b b b) at the head of each staircase, which were reached by 
means of passages and covered lobbies constructed in the 
shell of the building, precisely in the same manner as explained 
and illustrated by the text and woodcut to restored section of 
amphitheatrum. At the bottom of the cavea was the orchestra 
(c), an exact half-circle, and answering in use and locality to 



\f)M :l-jjM^y.l' [iJil/g 




sfik^ 



Proscenium, stage of theatre, bounded by the permanent wall of 
sceiia at the back and orchestra in front. 

our///, for it contained the seats appropriated to the magis- 
trates and persons of distinction, and was not used like the 
Greek orchestra for a chorus and musicians. A little in 



XXX THEATRUM. 



advance of this was a low wall (pulpilum or proscenii pulpitum, 
c), forming the front of the stage (proscenium, d d) towards 
the spectators, and separating it from the orchestra. At the 
back of the stage there was a lofty wall of brick or masonry 
(scena, e e e), which formed the permanent scene of the theatre, 
with three grand entrances for the chief actors ; and behind 
this the apartments for the actors and property (postscenium, 
e e), or what we call the part " behind the scenes." (See 
illustration to proscenium for postscenium, boundary wall of 
which is shown in a half-tint at the back.) The two divisions 
in advance of the stage on each side of it, like our stage boxes 
(ff\ are supposed to have been reserved as places of honour 
for the chief magistrates of Herculaneum, for they have each 
a private entrance from the portico at the back of the house 
by a separate staircase (g g), but they do not appear to have 
been usual in every theatre. 



CIRCUS. 

The annexed illustration shows a ground plan of a Roman 
racecourse called Circus. It was laid out in an oblong form, 
terminating in a semicircle at one extremity, and enclosed at 
the opposite end by a pile of buildings called the town (pppi- 
duni), under which the stalls (carceres) for the horses and 
chariots were distributed, marked a a in the engraving. 
b represents a long low wall called spina, built lengthwise down 
the course, so as to divide it like a barrier into two distinct 
parts, and at each of its ends was placed a goal (meta), round 
which the chariots turned ; the one nearest to the stables (c) 
being termed meta prima, the farther one (d) meta secunda. 
d represents the goal at the bottom. The stalls (a a) are 
arranged in the segment of a circle, of which the centre falls 

^■u 



Ground plan of circus or Roman racecourse. 

exactly in the middle point (e) between the first meta and the 
side of the building at which the race commenced, e repre- 
sents a chalked rope (alba linea) fastened across from two 
small marble pillars (hermulee), and loosened away from one side 
as soon as all the horses were brought up fairly abreast of it, 
and the signal for the start had been given. The out-building 
F is the Emperor's box (pulvinar). and the one on the opposite 
side (g) is supposed to have been intended for the magistrate 



XXX11 



CIRCUS. 



called editor spectacnlorum, at whose charge the games were 
exhibited. In the centre of the end occupied by the stalls 
was a grand entrance (h), called porta pompce, through which 
the Circensian procession entered the ground before the races 
commenced. Another one was constructed at the circular 
extremity (i), called porta triumphalis, through which the 
victors left the ground in a sort of triumph. A third is situated 
on the right side (k), called porta libitinensis, through which 




' y * , '**r*l?W*» ' 

Ancient racecourse at Constantinople. 

the killed or wounded drivers were conveyed away ; and two 
others (l l) were left close by the carceres through which the 
chariots were driven into the ground. 

The external and internal elevation of a circus was much 
like that of an amphitheatre (see Amphitheatrum), though 
the annexed engraving will afford a fair idea, as, though a 
ruin, it shows distinctly the arcades and outer shell of the 
building; some fragments of the rows of seats for the spec- 
tators ; the spina, with its obelisks and columns nearly perfect ; 
the meta prima on the right hand of it ; the oppidum and 
carceres arranged on a curved line, as in the first example ; 
and one of the gates through which the chariots entered the 
ground, like those marked l l on the ground-plan. 



SATIRE I. 

Against misers, envy, and inconsistency: addressed to his patron. The 
miser forms the principal character. The Augustan age exhibited a 
strange mixture of frivolity and crime. 

Horace. — Prithee tell me, Maecenas, why men cannot live 
Content with that life chance or fix'd choice may give ; 
Why extol they so loudly the opposite lot, 
Forgetting the blessings of that they have got ? 
" How blest are ye merchants !" the x soldier oft cries 
When the rigour of service his shatter'd frame tries ; 
While the 2 trader, when fierce winds his vessel assail, 
Says, " Warfare is better than braving the gale." 
And why not ? they but fight in a moment to gain 
A glad victory or a swift freedom from pain. 
But the man who's well versed in the study of law, 
As his client at cockcrow knocks loud at his door, 
Murmurs, "Ah, happy husbandmen !" Then, there's a third, 
Who declares " life in town is to be much preferr'd," 
When he's dragg'd from his country-seat and quiet home 
To go bail for a friend who is living at Rome. 

But examples of this sort so often we find, 
That to quote all no 3 prater would e'er be inclined. 

1 The soldier at the commencement of his service would expect to get 
rich by plunder and a share in conquered lands ; but having grown old 
and failed to gain anything but a worn-out frame, he thinks the trader has 
become rich very easily compared with others. * 

2 A trader, for instance, who imported corn and other merchandise from 
Egypt anc l Asia Minor. 

3 Fabius, a Roman knight, who wrote some treatises on philosophy. 

C 



IO SATIRE I. 



So, lest any time you should needlessly spend, 

Observe in what manner I'll make all this end. 

If a god were to say, " Well, I grant your demands — 

Let the soldier turn merchant, the lawyer till lands : 

Come, be quick ; change your places, at once pass away. 

Ha ! how now ?— what the meaning of this your delay ? " 

Not a man would accept the alternative fate, 

Though no doubt he'd be happy in such change of state. 

Now why should not Jupiter get in a rage, 

And vow, " They shall no more my attention engage " ? 

But the truth of this let me with gravity test, 

That I seem not to treat it as if 'twere a jest : 

Though I cannot see why one mayn't in playful mood 

Tell the truth, if.it be to do somebody good; 

As oft children will get up the alphabet well, 

For the 1 cakes tutors give them, and so learn to spell. 

All who work then the heavy earth with their hard plough :* — 

Those exorbitant landlords one ever sees now : 





* Improved plough {aratrum) . * Wheel plough (currus). 

Both the soldier and merchant, who, reckless of harm, 
Swiftly sail o'er each sea through the storm or the calm, 
Say they bear all their hardship, that when old theyve grown, 
They may take their ease safely, and spend what they own; 

1 Quintilian recommends the use of letters in ivory, or anything pleasant 
to the taste and touch in which children take delight. A Greek philosopher 
recommended tutors to give their pupils pastry, honey, flowers, or brilliant 
stones, to excite a wish to learn, or reward attention to learning. 



SATIRE I. II 



Dreading poverty nothing — just like (as they say) 

The small diligent ant, that knows how to make hay 

While the sun shines, and ever increases its store, 

Providing for winter ere summer is o'er. 

Yet this ant, sings the bard, when Aquarius' rain 

Brings the gloomy year round to its end once again, 

Never stirs from its hole ; but then frugally lives 

On the means former toil now so happily gives. 

Yet you, nothing daunted by * winter's keen frost, 

Or by summer's fierce heat, though you be tempest-tost, 

Rush through flames and past swords, nay, all hindrance defy, 

To say, " None of my class are now richer than I." 

And pray tell me how can it be the slightest pleasure 

To so fearfully, stealthily bury your treasure ? 

The Miser. — It would soon be all gone if I once *gan to 
spend. 

Horace. — Yes, but still, in this hoarding, where is the good 
end, 
If in spite of your money you lack what you want ? 
Though you've 2 three thousand quarters of corn, still you can't 
Eat a bit more than I can, — just as> if you bore, 
3 As a slave, heavy-laden the bread bag, — no more 
Than the cup-bearer, steward, or clerk, for your share 
Would you get, although they had had nothing to bear. 
What to him who's content with what nature alone 
W r ants, if sixty or six hundred 4 acres he own? 

1 A parody of some epic poet's line ; the 1 6th of January is referred to, 
when stormy and cold weather prevailed. 

2 Literally, 100,000 pecks. 

3 Horace imagines a master and his slaves on a journey, some of whom 
would be laden with the cooking ntensils > and one would carry the bread; 
while others, such as the reading slaves or secretary, would carry nothing. 

4 The Roman "jugera" were rather more than half-acres. The word 
" aret " means ploughs by means of his servants, i, e., owns. 



12 



SATIRE I. 



The Miser. — Oh ! I really can't tell ; but I feel keener 

pleasure 
In thus taking a little from so large a treasure. 

Horace. — Yet, if you let us take from our small stores the 

same, 
Why so praise your large barns and our lesser bins blame ? 
'Tis as though you but wanted a * glass * or a caskf 
Full of water ; and yet, should this fancied boon ask — 
" Let me rather the same much more easily draw 
From yon river, than from this small spring that before 






Pants (Roman bread). * Cup (cyathus). f Jar (urna). 

Me runs." Hence it is often 2 swift waters have drown'd, 
Borne away bank and all, those who cannot set bound 
To their wishes; — while others, who care to obtain 
What life fairly demands, and no more seek to gain, 
Neither drink from a stream that is turbid with mud, 
Nor are whelm'd in the fierce waves of Aufidus' flood. 
But remember, cries some one, there is a large class 
Who, through wrong wish for glory, say this :— " Since we pass 
In the great world's opinion for what we possess, 
There's no sum that's enough for full meed of success." 
What with these would you do ? 



1 The Roman "urna" held about three gallons, and the cyathus Jj 
of a pint. 

3 The river Aufidus, now Ofanto, in Apulia, was remarkable for the swift- 
ness of its current. 



SATIRE I. 



1 3 



Bid them keep wretched still, 
Since they act so absurdly of their own free will : 
Ay, as wretched a life as the rich miser led 
Once at Athens, who thus was accustom'd ('tis said) 
The opinions by vulgar minds held to despise — 
" When the coins in my strong-box # have feasted my eyes, 
In my heart and at home I say, ' This is true bliss ! ' 
And so what do I care if the public do hiss ? " 
As an epic bard sings : this is Tantalus yearning 
To drink of the stream from his lips ever turning. 
1 Nay, you need not laugh thus, if the name you but alter 
The old myth will show clearly that you're the defaulter. 




■ o o o qoc. 



^I 




* Strong box or chest 
{a rcci . 



Arcera, a close-covered cart boarded all 
over so as to resemble a large chest 
(area), for the transport of invalids, 
before litters came in. 



Over money-bags gloating you lose all your sleep, 
And sacrilege deem it to touch that large heap 
From all sources derived, or but feel such delight 
In it as a good picture may give to the sight. 
Don't you know money's use ? It is this, — to obtain 
Bread and meat, all that nature can't lack without pain. 
What? In dreading thieves' villany, joy can you feel ? 
Or in fearing lest slaves should run off, or should steal 



1 Horace was going to add, "and you are like Tantalus," but was inter- 
rupted by the miser with a derisive laugh at his quoting so stale a story as 
that, worn threadbare by the philosophers of the day. 



14 



SATIRE I. 



All your stores ? For if so, I pray Heaven that this, 
Though it be your chief blessing, may ne'er be my bliss. 
Then again, if your frame should be seized with a chill, 
Or be tortured with pain, if in bed* you lie ill, 
Have you then any friend who will kindly sit by 
You, get poultices, beg the physician to try 
All he knows to restore you and give you relief, 
And so save a dear child or fond wife from deep grief? 
No, indeed : since your son, nay, not even your wife, 
Cares the least for your health, or, I dare say, your life : 
While your neighbours, acquaintances, ay, to a man, 
Feel as bitter a hatred to you as they can. 
And what wonder for money alone when you live, 
That a love you don't merit, there are none to give ? 









* General sofa or study couch, or for * Bed to sleep in (ciibicularis 

dining or sleeping (lectulus). lectus), unfinished. 

If you think those relations which nature gives, ever 

Will be fast friends and love you, although you should never 

Spend a penny on them — your idea would be idle 

As a man's who endeavour'd with bit and with bridle 

To teach wretched asses to go like the horse 

That we often see trotting on Rome's training-course. 

And, in fine, to this hunting for money fix bounds; 

Now you've more than you had, there can't be the same 

grounds 
To fear poverty ; so from your toil now refrain, 
For you've gain' d all that wealth you once but long'd to gain, 



SATIRE I. 15 



Lest you act like Ummidius — (don't look so bored !) 
'Tis a very brief story : — He measured his hoard, 
For he ne'er could have counted it, yet was so mean, 
That dress'd better than slaves are he never was seen. 
Nay, right down to the day of his death he would dread 
Loss of life through a want of a bare loaf of bread. 
But a freedwoman, braver than Tyndarus' l daughter, 
By an axe-cleaving* blow the poor wretch dared to slaughter. 
The Miser. — Pray, then, what from all this the advice that 
you give ? 
Like the 2 profligate, glutton, or rake shall I live ? 




* The axe inserted in the bundle of rods 
(fasces), carried by the Roman lictors, 
* Axe (securis). with which criminals were beheaded 

after being beaten with the rods. 

Horace. — Now you're wildly contrasting two opposite cases : 
I don't tell you to imitate scamps and scapegraces 
When I say, " Be no miser; " 3 and black is not white, 
Nor can darkness be ever consider'd the light. 
But I now will go back to my Satire's first query: — 
And I mean, don't the miser himself become weary 
Of his fate, and ofttimes praise " the opposite lot," 
Discontentedly longing for what he has not ? 

1 Clytemnestra, who killed her husband Agamemnon on his return from 
Troy, and was afterwards killed herself by her son Orestes, who was then 
driven mad by the Furies. 

2 Maenius was a great profligate ; Cassius Nomentanus spent £56,000 in 
gluttony and debauchery. 

3 Tanais, a freedman, was a spado, and the father-in-law of Visellius, 
who was herjiiosus. 



i6 



SATIRE I. 



If his neighbour's cow's udder more milk than his shows, 
Pale with envy still thinner and thinner he grows ; 
And instead of contrasting with poorer men's state — 
Though so many be poorer — his own better fate, 
Struggles ever now this man, now that, to outpace, 
And so ever a richer he finds in the race. 
As in Virgil's first Georgic — " when bounds the hoof 'd horse 
From the starting-point,* bearing the car o'er the course " — 




* Stalls in the circus, where the chariots were stationed before the 
commencement of a race, and to which they returned after its 
conclusion (carceres). 

Then the jockeys press close on the horses that lead, 
And despise the pass'd rider and his beaten steed. 




Coachman, charioteer, or driver of a racing-car in the 
Circus at the public games (Circettscs). 

So it is that but seldom we find e'en a man 
To say, " I have lived happily, and now I can, 



SATIRE I. 



17 



Quite content with the time fate has chosen to give, 
As a sated guest ceases to eat, — cease to live. 
But enough: — lest from bookcase* of some x blear-eyed prater 
You should think that I've robb'd these philosophers' 
" data." 




* Circular box or case for books, papers, &c. [sainhim). 

1 Crispinus. Horace was himself slightly blear-eyed, but forgot his own 
small defect in satirizing the glaring one of Crispinus. Crispinus was a 
garrulous Stoic philosopher. To rob his shelves of books would mean to 
imitate his garrulity. 




Doric columns supporting the Parthenon. 



SATIRE II. 



Against all kinds of excess and inconsistency. 

So the Syrian, flute-playing* 1 Sisters, forsooth, 
Ragamuffins, quacks, ballet-girls, toadies — in truth, 




Tibicina playing the tibia dextra, that one of a pair of pipes that 
was held in the right hand when playing. 





Blind beggar receiving alms Strolling juggler or mountebank 

(mendicus). (circulator) . 

All such folk are dejected and deeply distrest, 

For their patron the 2 singer has gone to his rest. 

1 The term " collegia " is used ironically like our word " fraternity." 

2 Marcus Tigellius Hermogenes was a singer and music-master, — a friend 
of Julius Caesar. 



SATIRE II. 



19 



And no doubt he was lavishly kind. But another 

Would not give to a destitute friend or a brother 

A mere trifle to keep off dread hunger and cold. 

Then, again, if a third you should ask — who once roll'd 

In the wealth by his father or grandfather won, 

Why he has nearly through it all wickedly run, 

Ever buying rich dainties, he answers, " I can 

Never brook to be thought a mean, spiritless man." 

So the prodigal praise him, the miserly blame. 

There's a J banker in Rome (never mind what his name), 

Rich in land, rich in money at interest placed, 

Who fears men should think him a wretch quite disgraced. 




( s?b 





2 Togafusa (ample toga), used in the time 
of Augustus. (See page 28.) 



Toga picta, or embroidered 
3 robe. 



He wrings from his principal sixty per cent, 
At the time, too, when first to the borrower lent. 
And the sooner men show folly's earliest germs, 
So the harsher for them the stern usurer's terms. 



Fufidius was some banker and usurer of whom nothing further is known. 

2 See note on page 28. 

3 Worn by the consul as president of the public games, and holding up 
a handkerchief as a signal for the games to begin. 



SATIRE II. 



He hunts up the bonds of all those who are still 
x In their teens, and still ruled by a father's rough will. 
Who would not, the instant he hears this, exclaim, 
" O ye gods ! can ye countenance such crying shame ? " 
" But," says some one, " he surely expends on himself 
A sum that's commensurate with his great pelf?" 
Nay : you'd scarcely believe how unkind he will be 
To himself; for indeed he's as wretched as he 
Was, whom Terence in 2 one of his comedies draws 
As grief- stricken through driving his son to the wars. 
If you say,, " What on earth in all this is his end ?" 
My reply will be such : " To convey I intend 
That fools trying to shun one fault certainly seem 
To run thoughtlessly into the other extreme." 





Statue of Aristides, with 
a loose cloak {pallium) 
over his tunic. 



Ordinary tunic. 




A Roman with 3 toga 
outside his tunic. 



1 The Lsetorian law forbade any one younger than twenty-five years of 
age from concluding a money transaction by post-obits. 

2 " The Self- Tormentor" was a comedy of Terence, in which the cruelty 
of the father Menedemus drove the son Clinia into Asia to be a soldier, so 
that the father was wretched in consequence. 

3 The toga virilis was assumed about the age of 16^ years, and was com- 
monly made of white wool, without ornament. 



SATIRE II. 



21 



There's an exquisite, who with dress sweeping the street 
Struts along, though another one sometimes may meet, 
Who believes it good taste to be scarce dress'd at all : 
While the 1U elegant's" bonbons the sense of smell pall, 
Some as l dirty as goats in our city are seen ; 
'Tis a terrible pity : there's no happy mean. 
There are some men who never would have aught to do 
With a girl, if the fringe of her long robe # from view 




* Inslita, a sort of flounce attached to the stola of a Roman matron, 
or the number of thick folding plaits in the annexed figure. 

Did not hide e'en her ankle, while others alone 

Look at those who in houses of ill-fame are known. 

As a young noble once came away from some slum, 

Said the 2 Censor in splendid words, " Hither should come 

Rome's youth, if foul lust have so fever'd their blood, 

For to choose the less evil may sometimes be good." 

But to this 3 Cupiennius, who would admire 

The matron in white robes, says, " I'd ne'er desire 



1 Ruhllus and Gargonius, two men belonging to the middle class, are 
quoted as instances of the extremes of effeminacy and coarseness. The 
lozenges or bonbons were chewed to make the breath fragrant. 

2 Cato major, called the Censor. 

3 Cupiennius was a great rake, and friend of Augustus. 



2 2 SATIRE II. 



Approval like that." ' But 'tis really worth while 

For all you who don't wish that good fortune should smile 

On adulterers, to ascertain how distrest 

They are ever, and by what a cruel unrest 

The slight pleasure is marr'd, and how seldom they gain 

It ; and then — at what risk and what terrible pain. 

One jump'd from the top of a house in his fright, 

While another was beaten to death : — in his flight 

A third fell among thieves, while a fourth stay'd the knife 

By smart ransom : a fifth mutilation for life 

Had to suffer, — " 'Twas justice and right " the town vow'd. 

But 2 Galba said, " No, for a fine is allow'd 

By the law the first time." Yet 'tis safer by far 

To have dealings with those who of lower rank are, 

And I mean the freedwomen, for whom quite as mad 

Is 3 Salustius as the adulterer. Had 

But Salustius will to be gen'rous and good 

To his destitute friends, as his property would 

Well allow and sound reason suggest, he might give 

Quite enough to the freedwomen, and yet might live 

Free from loss and disgrace. But his conscience with such 

Words he soothes, and hugs fast the delusion : " I touch 

Not the wife of my neighbour." A few years ago 

4 Marsaeus, 5 Origo who loved, as all know, 

Who his land and his personal property too 

Gave away to an actress, said, " Nothing to do 

This is a parody of Ennius's lines, — 

" Audire est operas pretium procedere recte — 
Qui rem Romanam Latiumque augescere voltis." 

2 Galba was a clever lawyer, of not very strict morals himself. 

3 Salustius was a nephew of the sister of the historian Sallust. 

4 Nothing further is known of Marsoeus. 

5 Origo, Arbuscula, and Lycoris, were celebrated hetcerce of the day. 



SATIRE II. 23 



With another man's wife have I had." Perhaps not ; 
Yet from actresses and courtesans you have got 
A bad name, and that is a more serious ill 
Than a loss of your property. Or, prithee, will 
It suffice to avoid some particular class, 
While the real cause of mischief unnoticed you pass? 
To lose one's fair fame, spend a fine property, 
Are surely great ills wheresoever they be. 

1 What matters it whether a crime that's the same 

Be committed with slave-girl or proud married dame ? 

2 In Fausta's case, Villius, call'd son-in-law 

Of the dictator Sulla, poor wretch, who but saw 
In the name fancied glory, sad penalty paid, 
Maul'd by fist, pierced by sword, in a plann'd ambuscade, 
And shut out of the house 3 while a more favour'd lover 
Was inside. If his passion itself could discover 
These terrible evils, and thus were to say, — 
" What now do you want ? Do I ever, I pray, 
When excited, for some high-born woman inquire, 
Nearly hid in long robes, with a consul for sire ? " 
Prithee, tell me, what answer the man would then make ? 
This,—" I err for the rank, not the lady's own sake." 
Yet how different from this sad folly of yours 
The advice Nature gives, so rich in her own stores 
Did you cease to confuse good with ill : — had you sense 
Like a wise thrifty steward these stores to dispense ! 



1 Married women wore the long gown and wide over-dress, fastened by 
two brooches : the female slaves and ordinary women wore the toga, or 
plain long dress. See illustration, p. 20. 

2 Sextus Villius Annalis had become so intimate with Fausta, the 
daughter of Sulla, that he was ironically called Sulla's son-in-law. 

3 Longarenus, a more favoured lover of Fausta's, is supposed to have set 
some highwaymen upon Villius. 



24 



SATIRE II, 



Don't it matter if you should go wiong through the force 
Of circumstance or your own fault? So this course 
Give up, lest you should rue it; more toil you'll derive 
And more woe than the pleasure success can e'er give. 
Nor, indeed, will the person of matrons be found 
Straighter-built or more delicate, though, girt around 
With the pearl and the emerald, it should e'en be 
As dainty as any * vain dandy we see. 
Nay, sometimes the freedwoman's person is better : 
No adventitious aid sets her off; you may get a 



ilk 



^^rvr^^h 




Lectica (palanquin). 

True idea of her beauty ; she does not, her graces 
Vaunting openly, hide each small blemish's traces. 
Observe how the rich man buys horses : conceal'd 
In a cloth he examines them, lest, if reveal'd 
A good shape in the main, though on faulty hoofs set, 
And weak legs should the purchaser's eagerness whet, 
When the shapely flanks and arching neck meet his sight, 
With the neatly turn'd head. And the rich man does right. 



1 Cerinthus was either some vain exquisite, who was very fond of jewel- 
lery, or an elegant celebrated by Tibullus ; but probably the former. 



SATIRE II. 



25 



Don't, then, look on the beauties of women with eyes 
Keen as 1 Lynceus could boast, while their deformities 
Still more blind than Hypsaea you view. " What an arm ! 
What a leg ! " you in rapture exclaim. Yet what charm 
Is there in a lean back, a splay foot, a big nose ? 
The matron's long robe nothing but her face shows, 
If she be not a 2 Catia. But should you try 
To view beauties forbidden with curious eye, 




Coa veslis, robe of the finest texture and almost transparent, 
worn by females addicted to pleasure. 

Beauties fenc'd round with dress — for these dresses excite 
The mad wish — many things will then hinder clear sight 
Of her figure and form ; — her attendants, the chair 
That she rides in, her toadies, slaves dressing her hair, 
The long gown that flows down to her ankles, the 3 shawl, 
And much else that will scarce let you see her at all. 



1 Lynceus was a Messenian, and one of the Argonauts, brother of Idas 
and son of Aphareus, famed for the sharpness of his sight. He fell, 
together with his brother, in a combat with Castor and Pollux, who had 
seduced his sisters. 

2 Catia was remarkable for her fine figure and want of modesty. 

3 " Altera." This is a nominative absolute for " quod ad alteram attinet." 
For " stola," see illustration on p. 79. 

D 



26 



SATIRE II. 



In the freedwoman's case there is nothing to hinder 
Your view : dress'd in ballet-girls' gauzes you'll find her, — 
By a glance you can measure her form, and discover 
If a misshapen leg or splay foot is veil'd over. 
For you surely don't wish that a trick should be play'd 
On you, and that my price I should get ere I've laid 
Out my wares for inspection. Thus, taken to task, 
The offender to these lines attention may ask : 
Says l Callimachus, " Often the hunter # the hare 




* Venatio (hunting of wild beasts.) 

Will course through the deep snow, and yet never will care 
E'en to touch it when kill'd, or with arrow pierc'd 

through." 
And, as apposite, add, " It is this that we do : 
For what all can obtain with such ease we pass by, 
And to reach what eludes the pursuer we try." 
Do you dream that the tide of fierce passion — that grief, 
Or life's cares from such paltry lines e'er find relief? 
Is it not better far^nature's bounds to search out, 
To the passions — to learn what we can do without, 

1 A distinguished Greek poet and grammarian of Cyrene. 



SATIRE II. 



27 



What we must needs possess : in a word, to discover 

True gold amid that which is but gilded over. 

You seek not gold cups when your throat's parch'd with heat \ 

Nor when l hungry spurn all but most delicate meat. 

So in love : be like me, choose an easier flame ; 

When her handmaid is willing, don't wait for the dame. 

2 Philodemus declares, she who cries, " Wait a bit," 

" Give me more," " If my husband go out " — is but fit 





Contest between a bear and a 
rhinoceros. 



Diana (venatrix) the huntress. 



For effeminate priests, and that he ever chooses 

Those who want no rich present, nor offer excuses. 

3 Let her figure be straight, bright and sunny each feature, 

Let her have the good taste not to spoil the charms nature 

Bestow'd, by a strut, or by painting her face : 

If a flame such as this I should ever embrace, 

In my eyes one of Rome's 4 noblest dames she appears ; 

And while with her, I am not distracted by fears 



1 Both the peacock and turbot were esteemed the greatest delicacies. 

2 Philodemus was a man who professed to follow Epicurus without 
understanding the true principles of the philosophy. 

3 These lines to the end do not belong to Philodemus, but to Horace 
himself. 

4 Ilia and Egeria were the names of Roman ladies. 



28 SATIRE II. 



Lest the husband come suddenly back from the town, 

The dog bark, the street door with a crash tumble down, 

The house echo and shake with the rumpus, the maid 

Cry, " Ah me ! for my x legs will be broke I'm afraid ; " 

By law, in 2 adultery taken, the wife 

Lose a part of her dowry, and I — lose my life. 

Sans shoes and sans stockings, with clothes all undone, 

To save purse, person, name, straight away one must run. 

To be caught is most fearful, and that I can show, 

For e'en simpleton 3 Stoics the truth full well know. 

1 Faithless slaves were sometimes thus cruelly punished. 

2 The woman, if caught in adultery, would legally lose part of her dowry 

3 See note on p. 9. 

Note to Toga fusa, p. 19. 
The outer circumference of this dress when spread out upon the ground 
formed a complete circle, in the manner of an Italian or Spanish cloak. It 
was first put on the left shoulder, so that a third of its length covered the 
left side, and fell down between the feet, as shown by the part marked 1, 
which applies to both the front and back views in the annexed examples. 
The rest was passed behind the back and under the right arm ; then turned 
down or doubled together at about the middle of its breadth, carried across 
the front of the body, and thrown over the left shoulder, so that it hung 
down to the heels, as shown by the back view in the illustration. The part 
thus folded down makes a double sinus, or semicircular fold; one formed 
by the outer edge of the drapery folded over, falling to the level of the 
knees, as in this example (2), though sometimes it fell lower, so as to set a 
little above the under edge of the drapery (ima toga, 3) ; the other pro- 
duced by the double part of the fold (4), and proceeding as above mentioned 
from under the right arm to the top of the left shoulder, presenting the 
appearance of a shoulder-belt (balteus). Lastly, to prevent the end of that 
side which was first put over the left shoulder from trailing or impeding the 
wearer's movements, in consequence of the great length of the entire piece 
of drapery, a part of it was drawn up from underneath this belt, or upper 
sinus (4), and turned over it in a small round fold {umbo, 5), which thus 
kept it at a proper level. 



SATIRE III. 

Against those who see their neighbours' vices far more clearly than they 
do their own; and also against the Stoic philosopher's theory that all 
crimes are equal. 

'Tis a fault with all singers, that when ask'd to sing 
In a 1 party of friends, they can then never bring 
Their own minds to comply ; while if they when inclin'd 
Be not ask'd, but small wish to desist can they find. 
This defect had Tigellius, he 2 who would do 
For a price almost anything, 3 so famous too : 
For Augustus himself — though he might have, of course, 
Made him sing had he chosen to use any force — 
Could ne'er bring him to breathe e'en a note or a sound 
If he said, " Come, Tigellius, surely you're bound, 
By the kindness my father and I have both shown 
You, to give me a song " — though if only his own 

1 In the earlier times the principal food of the Romans was a sort of 
gruel or pulse. The greatest luxury, however, prevailed in the Augustan 
age, and men lived to eat rather than ate to live. The meals were taken as 
follows : I. Breakfast from 9 to 10 a.m., consisting of bread, condiment, 
dried grapes, olives, cheese, milk, and eggs, and was called "jentaculum." 
2. The second breakfast, or lunch, called "prandium," was taken at mid- 
day, of sometimes hot, sometimes cold dishes. 3. The principal meal, called 
" ccena," corresponding to our modern dinner, taken from 3 p.m. to late in 
the evening, consisted of, first, various dishes to excite hunger, with easily 
digested vegetables ; second, of two, three, or even more removes of every- 
thing in season ; third, pastry, dessert, and fancy dishes. Fish were espe- 
cially prized by the Romans, especially turbot and mullet. 

2 " Sardi venales" was a proverbial expression. A Sardinian would do 
nearly anything for money. 

3 Ille, so famous, is ironical. 



3° 



SATIRE III. 



Will induc'd him, some drinking song then he'd keep singing, 

From the soup or the fish till dessert servants bring in, 

In the deepest of basses one moment, the next in 

Quite the shrillest of tenors — 'twas really most vexing, 

To observe the man's want of consistency : racing 

Anon like a fugitive soldier, then pacing, 

As in solemn processions to Juno, the maiden 

Slowly walks, hands uprais'd, with her head basket-laden. # 

He would oft keep two hundred slaves, oft only ten, 

Now would boast of acquaintance with Rome's greatest men ; 






Table representing the companions f Three-legged table * Cancphoia 
of Ulysses at dinner in the island (mensa tripes). (Athenian maiden 

of Circe {mensa escaria). in the procession 

to Juno). 

And would talk but of princes, and all that is great, 

Then exclaim, " Oh ! let mine be a lowlier fate ! 

A plain table, t a shell too the clean salt to hold, 

And a dress which, though coarse, can still keep off the cold. 

But suppose you should give to this man, who set bounds 

To his wishes so moderate, x ten thousand pounds : 

i The full phrase in the original would be " decies centena millia HS., 
or sester riorum, i. e., ten times a hundred thousand sesterces, or twopences. 
The principal Roman coins in use were the "as," about a penny in value ; 
the "denarius," about eightpence ; the coin sestertius, or minimus, about 
twopence ; and the sum sestertium, which equalled 1,000 of the sestertii. 



SATIRE III. 



31 



In a day or two after he'd not have a penny. 

Then, again, he would lie awake sometimes through many 

A night till sunrise, and snore on to sunset. 

In a word, a more changeable man ne'er liv'd yet. 

Now if some one should say to me, " How about you ? 

Pray are you free from faults ? " I should answer, " I do 

Not mean that, for no doubt I have others, but they 

Are less flagrant than yours, I may venture to say." 

Yet a profligate once was backbiting a miser, 

And a man cried, " Can't you see your own faults ? O, fie, sir ! 

You are trying to cheat us as though quite a stranger." 

He replied, — " Of my blaming myself there's no danger." 

In this instance, what foolish, excessive self-love 

Can we see for the satire to sternly reprove. 




Two genii shoemaking. 



"Women's shoes 
{calceoli). 



Cahens repandus 
(Shoe with long 
pointed toe bent 
backwards) . 



But how is't, when your own faults you scarcely discover, 
Like a man whose sore eyes with the salve are dress'd over. 
That a friend's little feelings as keenly you spy, 
As the snake * Epidaurus breeds or eagle's eye? 
Though in turn, on the other side, they, just the same, 
Closely look for defects that in you they may blame. 



1 Epidaurus, now " Pidauro," was a city in Argolis, especially celebrated 
for its snakes. 



32 



SATIRE III. 



1 Though some man be hot-temper'd, or in careless haste 

Offend modern gentlemen's critical taste ; 

Or perhaps can be laugh'd at because his hair's cut 

In a clownish style, or the coat on his back put, 

Trails down slovenly, or if too loose a shoe can 

Scarcely cling to his heel — still he is a good man : 

Ay, as good as his neighbour, and one of your friends ; 

Indeed, his abilities make full amends 

For his roughness and little regard to the fashion. 

In fine, test yourself .-—see that youWe no bad passion 

Which in your heart at some time by nature, or e'en 

By your own evil habits engender' d has been; 

For weeds, as you know, grow apace in the farm 

When not till'd, and need burning to stay further harm. 




Shoe or boot [calceus). 



Roman senator's shoe 
{calceus patricius) . 



Cothurnus 

(ornamented 

buskin). 



But to notice examples of this kind I next 

Hasten : what I mean is, that the ugly defects 

In their mistresses' persons no lover can see ; 

Nay, joys in their presence sometimes, it may be. 

And I would that in friendship we made just the same 

Error, and that some decent, respectable name 

For the foible a generous justice would find. 

For as fathers their children's defects do not mind. 



1 Horace probably means himself. 



SATIRE III. 



33 



So a friend for slight faults we're not right in disdaining. 
For example : a father, instead of complaining 
That his child has a " squint," says it's a pretty cast. 
While those who have offspring as small as thou wast — 
Thou dwarf Sisyphus, child of an unlucky mother — 
Call them, " dear little chickens," or " Varus ;" another, 
With his feet turning inward, or in lisping tones, 
Dub a T " Scaulus " — a brat with ill-form'd ankle-bones. 
If a man then amongst us too niggardly lives, 
Be it said that attention to prudence he gives ; 




* Pigmy or dwarf [nanus). 

If another is "gauche" and by boasting offends, 

Let him seem an agreeable wit to his friends. 

If you say, " But his bearing is really quite rude ; 

For unwelcome truths he will often obtrude 

On one's notice :" I answer, consider it candour, — 

A deep love of truth, that will ne'er let him pander 

To error. Or does he soon get in a passion ? — 

Suppose it an ardent and spirited fashion 

Of acting; for this, as I think, will oft end 

Both in gaining, and keeping when gain'd, a true friend. 

1 Varus and Scaurus were the names of noble Romans. He would pro- 
bably lisp it thus, " Scaulus." 



34 SATIRE III. 



But, alas ! what is virtue we change into vice, 

And to sully unblemish'd perfections rejoice. 

If a man in our class who is honest we know, 

We say, he is spiritless, dull, dense, or slow. 

If a second should cautiously shun the deep snare, 

And of danger malignant know how to beware ; 

Since he lives in a world where fierce envy is rife, 

And false charges have often cost many a life : 

We do not then, "How shrewd!" or "How careful!" 

exclaim, 
But " the shuffler " — the " cunning rogue," him we surname. 
Or again, if another be gauche and free spoken 
(As to you oft, dear Patron, 1 my thoughts I betoken), 
And should, when one's reading or wrapt in deep thought, 
Interrupt with some trifle or silly report, 
We cry, " Why, the fellow completely ignores, 
Like a blockhead, society's commonest laws." 
Ah ! how rashly we sanction a rule so unfair, 
That will tell against us too ! — for certainly there 
Is not one in the world who from all faults is free, 
And he's best who's weigh' d down by as few as may be. 
A dear friend, as is fair, my bad points with my good 
Will contrast, if he care for my friendship \ and should 
The defects be outweigh'd, to the good he'll incline, 
Then his faults shall be weigh'd in the same scale as mine. 
If you wish by a friend that your tumour be thought 
Not so ugly, you surely will bear with his wart. 
For bare justice demands that all those who excuse 
Their mistakes, the same licence should never refuse. 
And, in fine, since nor passion nor e'en all the rest 
Of the vices that cling to poor foolish man's breast 

1 Libenter — freely; because he knew that Maecenas would not mistake 
frankness, even if gauche, for deliberate annoyance. 



SATIRE III. 35 



Can be rooted out, why does not reason apply 

Both the standard and estimate suitable, why 

As the several cases of error deserve, 

Not with merited punishment virtue preserve ? — 

Should you crucify slaves bade to clear off a dish, 

Who had feasted on soup nearly cold, or on fish 

When half-eaten, you would by all sensible men 

Be thought madder than 1 Labeo was (you know when). 

Yet much graver the crime, ay, and far more insane, 

When your friend has done wrong, though so slight, that again 

To e ; en mention it would be both cross-grain' d and sour — 

To hate and avoid him, as debtors the hour 

Of settling, poor wretches ! for on the first day 

Of the month, if they cannot the interest pay, 

Or the principal, fish'd up by hook or by crook, 

They must needs, while the usurer reads from a book 

His own autobiography, horrible stuff! 

Keep their necks on the stretch to attend well enough:— 

As a captive, resignd to his terrible fate, 

Must stretch out his neck the death-blow to await : 

2 Or again, if my friend have forgotten good taste 

In his cups, and thrown down from its stand in his haste, 

3 A plate often of yore which * Evander was pleas'd 
To use daily ; or, hungry, if he shall have seiz'd 

1 Labeo punished a slave very severely for a trifling fault. 

2 Horace shows how repugnant to human nature the theory of the Stoics 
is, by quoting the opposite opinion held by Epicurus and his followers, 
from whose tenets he himself culled much to make up his own moderate 
eclectic system. 

3 Horace laughs at the excessive reverence then displayed for antiquity. 

4 Evander was a son of Carmenta, or Carmentis, a goddess afterwards, 
who uttered oracles on the Capitoline hill. He was born at Pallanteufri 
in Arcadia ; emigrated to Italy sixty years before the Trojan war, and there 
founded the city Pallanteum. 



7,6 SATIRE III. 



Before me on a fowl that's in front of me serv'd,* 

To be lov'd less for this should I think he deserv'd ? 

Nay : what could I do when he steals, or betrays 

Sacred trusts, — in a word, does not do what he says? 

Now the Stoics, who think crimes are all about equal, 

In a quandary get in their theory's sequel. 

Common sense, morals, interest, that is so nearly 

The fountain of justice, oppose this quite clearly. 

Erst when savage men crawl'd o'er the earth scarcely brought 

Into shape, — brutes, unsightly and speechless, they fought 

For their acorns and caves with the nail and the fist ; 

Then with clubs, and in time they learnt how to resist 

One another with weapons experience fram'd, 

Till at last they found words, and by that means they nam'd 




* Dish with fowl and hsh in \catinus or catinum). 
Their cries and their feelings : they then gave up wars, 
Began to build towns, and to lay down fit laws 
To check thieves, highway robbers, adulterers. Rife was 
Lust before Helen's time, and the fell cause of strife was. 
But those races died off, and their deeds were unsung, 
For as, brute-like, they ever to lawless love clung 
So uncertainly, as in the herd the bull will, — 
In such wise the stronger his fellows would kill. 
And so, if you the world's early history read, 
You must own that men practis'd what's right through a dread 
Of what's wrong. No man's nature unaided divides 
The unjust from the just, though it often decides 
What is good and what's bad for itself; — what brings weal 
And what woe ; — nor, supposing by night a man steal 
Sacred vessels from temples, will Stoics e'er show 
That he does no worse wrong than a man who may mow 



SATIRE III. 



37 



Down young cabbages growing in some neighbour's garden. 
Let there be a fix'd rule to or punish or pardon 
Each offence, lest, when slaves only need a mild whipping. 
You chase them with scourge, iron-pointed, flesh-ripping * 




* Flagrum (whip for punishing slaves). 

And I fear not, — because of yourself you declare 
That each case is alike, and vow that if you were 
But allow'd to be ruler supreme, you'd suppress 
With one penalty crime, whether greater or less, 




Figure with a scourge {flagellum). Whip with leather thong for 

lighter punishment (scutica). 
Such as theft, highway robbery, — lest you should beat 
With too light a rod men for worse punishment meet. 
By your theory, only the Stoics are ever 

Rich, good cobblers, good-looking, and kings : so then never 
Wish to gain what you have ? 

The Stoic. — Ah ! you have not been told 

What 1 Chrysippus our founder asserted of old. 



1 Although Zeno was the real founder of the Stoic system, Chrysippus 
was often called so. 



38 



SATIRE III. 



He said this : " Ne'er a Greek * nor a Latin f shoe will 
The 'wise man' make, and yet he a cobbler is still." 

Horace. — Tell me how. 

Stoic. — " Why, just as, though Tigellius sing" 

Not a note, of musicians and singers the king 





# Crepidas, worn by both sexes. t Sandal (solea), 

worn by both sexes. 
He is still ; or as l Varus a cobbler can be, 
Though he sold all the tools of his trade, and though he 
Shut up shop and so shrewdly the law can expound. 
So I say that philosophers ever are found 
The best workmen, whatever the business may be ; 
And that so they are kings you may easily see. 




Tepidarium (chamber in set of 
baths with moderate heat). 



h^t- 



Plan of baths [Balinece or 
Baluec?) at 2 Pompeii. 



Horace. — Yet the street boys, O mightiest of mighty kings, 
Will your royal beard wantonly pluck, and in rings 

1 Alfenius Varus was a cobbler at Cremona, who gave up cobbling, 
came to Rome, and obtained eminence as a barrister and consul. 

2 a, Latrina w.c. ; b, an open court surrounded on three sides by a colon- 



SATIRE III. 



39 



Will crowd round you ; and if by your staff they're not cow'd, 
You will burst a blood vessel with shouting so loud ; 
In fine, while your Majesty your proud way wends 
To the baths for a farthing, though no one attends 




■■ sue 


ATiO 


;'■ \'r 


/—; "-■'', 




| o J 


M 


imkl 


(Cl 


P>1 



ft ..-j/ BU »E 






Mm 



'~rmm 


i ' ! 


m fe|§| 


g_ 


<U_: I ^-^r^^j^ X— 



1 
I p ° 1 







Bath {Balineum or Balneum), showing the furnace with flues {Hypocaustum) ; 
sweating-room heated by flues in the walls of the chamber {Concamerata 
Sudaiio); the warm water bath [Balneum); room at moderate heat ( Tepi- 
dariitm) ; room for bracing the body by cool temperature after using the 
Laconiciun, a semicircular alcove heated by the furnace {Hypocaustum} ; 
Frigidarium; and the oiling- room, to which the bather retired to be 
rubbed and anointed {Elceothesiuni). 

You, except 'tis Crispinus the dotard, if my 

Dear friends pardon whatever the errors that I, 

Not a Stoic, 1 may chance to have done, while I bear 

As I should in my turn most contentedly their 

Little weaknesses, I, a mere subject, shall live 

Tasting happiness such as your kingdom can't give. 

nade ; c c, stone seats on one side of the court for the slaves to sit on while 
waiting for their masters ; d, superintendent's room ; e 9 Latrina No. 2 ; 
ff, stone seats on each side of room for bathers to dress and undress upon ; 
B, Frigidarium ; g, room for the garde-robe ; c, Tepidarium ; D, Cal- 
darium; /, furnace ; m, copper for hot water {Caldarium) ; n, copper for 
warm water {Tepidarium); o, cold water cistern; /, room for slaves to 
attend to furnace ; a, passage ; r, yard for firewood, &c. 

1 Not a Stoic, and therefore of course stultus, quite ignorant of philosophy. 



SATIRE IV. 

Against his detractors. 

Aristophanes, Eupolis, ay, and t each bard, 

Who wrote comedy anciently, used to hit hard 

In their writings all characters that might seem fit 

To be drawn to the life by the satirist's wit, — 

As adulterers, villains, thieves, cut-throats — in short, 

All who were for some vice then notorious thought. 

Now 2 Lucilius, witty and quick too to see 

A defect, though a metrist too rough to please me, 

Copies closely these writers, from them his style draws, 

Changing merely the metre and rhythmical laws. 

And in this he was faulty ; with playful ease he'd 

As a feat to his slave to be copied down, read 

His lines off at the rate of two hundred an hour. 

As he roll'd incoherently on, for the pow'r 

Of removing some parts one could wish. Then verbose in 

His language he was, and shirk'd toil in composing ; 

That is, in composing as real poets should, 

For think aught of mere quantity I never could. 

See, the prater Crispinus now dares me to try 

My skill with his, and 3 for the smallest sum I 

Like to stake. Cries he : Take now your tablets in hand, 

And then I will take mine ; nay, at once, I demand 



1 Other comic writers, such as Pherecrates and Epicharmus. 

2 See heading to Satire X. 

3 The words of Crispinus, " For the smallest sum I like to stake," imlpy 
that he felt so sure of victory, that he would stake much more than his 
adversary if necessary. 



SATIRE IV. 



41 



That a place, time, and umpires be given us two, 
Then I'll see if I cannot write much more than you. 
While, like wind fetter'd fast in the bellows of leather, 
That whistles and struggles to burst from its tether, 
While the masses of metal grow soft in the fire, — 
Sounds the speech that you choose to adopt and admire. 
Why, e'en garrulous Fannius thinks he is blest, 
Just because his friends offer unask'd a book-chest * 
And a biistf of himself, while there is not a man 
Who will look at the verses I write, who ne'er can 
Bring myself to risk spouting without a selection : 
For as most merit blame, some have no predilection 
For my style. And just pick from the general class 
Of men whom you may please, you will find him, alas ! 





* Book boxes {capsce). f Family portrait {imago majorum). 

By ambition or avarice sadly distrest. 
Take another : some lawless love fevers his breast. 
A third brilliant engraving in silver delights : 
In a fourth a bronze statue deep wonder excites : 
While a fifth o'er each sea from the east to the west 
Will go trading : nay, through all disasters, in quest 
Of his gain headlong hurry, like dust whirl'd by wind, 
Dreading lest he should lose aught, or else fail to find 
Still more wealth than he has. All such men ever fear 
1 Verses, and hate the satirist : " Pray don't go near 
Him," say they ; " he's as dangerous as a mad cow is. 
If he can by his satire make men laugh just how his 



1 Men assumed that every one who wrote at all wrote satires, 
given to tossing had hay bound round their horns. 

E 



Oxen 



42 



SATIRE IV. 



Spite wishes, the fellow will surely spare no man, 

Though a friend, but be glad that each child and old woman, 

As they come from the bakehouse # or l tanks in the city, 

Should learn the stuff that in some poetic fit he 

May have scrawl'd on his tablets." But listen awhile 

Till I've said a few words in defence. And first I'll 

Take my name from the list of those whom I call "poets," 

For one certainly should never say this — " I know it's 

Quite enough to give lines their six feet," or suppose 

Those true bards who, like me, write what's much more like prose, 




* Baker's shop, with mills for grinding flour on the left hand, 
and oven at the bottom (Junius). 

Give that man the proud honour of this noble name 

Who has genius, language that never is tame, 

Whose thoughts seem inspir'd. — Indeed. some have debated, 

Whether comedy should as a poem be rated. 

For the language and subjects which comedy uses 

Lack both spirit and force, though it certainly chooses 

A fix'd metre, and differs in that point alone 

From plain prose. 2 "But," says some one, " 'tis very well known 

1 Marcus Agrippa made 700 public water-basins in Rome. 

3 Horace here supposes some opponent to say this, and refutes him. 
The argument is this : — We have instances every day of fathers angry with 
their sons, as Terence describes, so that is not sufficient by itself to make 



SATIRE IV. 43 



How in Terence the father will angrily rave 

When his son a rich wife with her dowry won't have, 

Madly doting on some illegitimate flame ; 

And when drunk goes x a-revelling, oh the deep shame ! 

With his flambeaux* lit when the sun scarce has gone down." 

True : but think you that dissolute youths of our town 

Would hear gentler reproaches than those, if their sires 

Were alive ? 

No, indeed. 

Then no doubt it requires 
Something more for real poetry than to write merely 
A full line in mere words that are destitute clearly 
Both of polish and style ; when, if you take away 




* Torch (fax). 

The restrictions of metre, then any one may 

Rave exactly as fathers in Terence's play. 

If you took the fix'd pauses and rhythmical law 

From the lines I now write, or from those that before 

Me Lucilius wrote, and the first word should set 

Last in order, and make the last first, you'd not yet 

Find the poet's true elements, though disarrang'd, 

As you would if you this verse of 2 Ennius chang'd — 

" When fell Discord War's iron-bound gates and posts brake." 

But enough of this now, some time hence I will make 

It my end to find whether a satire can be 

A true poem : but now 'tis sufficient for me 

comedy poetry. The allusion is to Demea, in the " Adelphi" of Terence, 
and to Chremes, in the " Self-Tormentor" of the same poet. 

1 Such revels were accompanied by processions, torches, and music. 

2 The father of Roman epic poetry. 



44 SATIRE IV. 



To discuss the injustice or justice of hatred 

Now evinc'd to the satiric writing of late read. . 

Fierce informers with pleading quite hoarse strut about, 

Such as Sulcius and Caprius, ne'er without 

Accusations in writing, of dread a great source 

To the highwaymen ; though all who keep to the course 

That is right, can despise them. Though you like those two 

Fierce informers be, I'm not like highwaymen. You 

Need feel no dread of me. Let no r bookseller's stall,* 

No, nor publisher's notice on 2 pillar or wall, 

Show a book that I write for the rabble's hot fingers 

To rub dirtily, or for some ignorant singers 

Like Tigellius, to desecrate with their touch ; 

Nor do I read aloud what I've written to such 



H°PrPlM M°B' 



* Six shop-fronts at Pompeii (tabema). 

Men, or even to any but friends when induc'd 

By their urgent request, nor indeed am I us'd 

To do this where you will or before whom you please : 

Although e'en in the market-place ofttimes one sees, 

1 Roman books were generally written on the fine bark of the Egyptian 
papyrus, which had been brought to a great state of perfection by bleach- 
ing. Parchment was also used, and the sheets were folded and sewed some- 
thing like our modern books. The ink was composed of lamp-black and 
gum. For pens they used reeds, cut like our pens. They generally wrote 
only on one side of the page. ' The back of the book was dyed with saffron 
to protect it from worms. When the book was filled with writing, a stick 
or reed was fastened to the last leaf, and the whole coiled round it. A 
small stick was then passed through, with ivory knobs projecting, to serve 
as an axis. 

2 The titles of books for sale were suspended on the doors of the book- 
sellers' shops, or, as the shops were frequently under a portico, on the 
column in front of them. 



SATIRE IV. 



45 



And ofttimes at the bath men who openly spout 

What they write ; and the place cover'd in, without doubt 

Suits the voice very nicely : and this is great joy 

To those vain fools who never their judgment employ 

To decide if it be without reason or right, 

Or at untoward times. " But," say they, "your delight 

Is to injure men's fame, and with malice prepense 

You do this most persistently." I reply. Whence 

Did you get this reproach against me ? To be plain, 

Did a man of my set first consent to thus stain 

My good name ? For a man who disparages friends 

In their absence, or when they're accus'd, never lends 

His assistance, who aims the repute to obtain 

Of a wit, or to raise a loud laugh, — who can feign 





Figures reclining at table. At the Roman repasts men and women 

reclined together : not so at the 
Greek, as shown by the illustration, 
where the woman sits. 



Tales about what he never has seen, who a trust 
Will betray, is malignant indeed : let all just 
Men and honest, as every Roman should be, 
Be well guarded against all such scoundrels as he. 



4 6 



SATIRE IV. 



One may often on each x dining couch see four guests : 

One of whom, be it good or bad taste, will make jests 

On the company all but the host, and him too 

When excited by wine and the god Bacchus, who 

Brings the truth out, and lets one the heart's secrets know. 

And yet you, of " malignant and bad men " the foe, 

Think that he is polite — but free-spoken, — a wit. 

Why suppose it then, malice and spite when I hit 

In my satires some exquisite 2 dandy, who smells 

Most absurdly of " bonbons " — or one who repels 




* Triclia, or summer-house for 
dining in genial weather. 



* Triclinium (Mining couches). 



All who meet him, because he's so dirty? Should e'er 
In a party, allusion be made when you're there 



1 The triclinium was composed of three couches, called lectus imus, 
medius, summus, on each of which never more than four sat in good 
society. 

3 See page 21, note I. 

8 Figures on the left are still reclining at dinner ; on the light are taking 
a siesta ; those at the further end are taking their wine. 



SATIRE IV. 47 



To the theft of * Petillius you, in your way, 

Would defend him no doubt, and most likely would say 

" Why I've din'd with Petillius often, — indeed 

We've been friends since our earliest boyhood, and he'd 

Very often do favours for me when requested ; 

And I'm glad that he can live at Rome unmolested, 

Though I certainly feel some surprise at the way 

He escap'd with a verdict (you know on what day)." 

This is really the poison black hatred will breed ; — 

Utter malice : — and that both my works shall be freed, 

And my heart from gross faults of this kind I declare, 

As I do promise aught that I truthfully may 

Of myself. So suppose, as may be, that I say 

Aught too freely — too cutting a sarcasm use, 

Why, grant me the licence, and kindly excuse ; 

For my dear father taught me this by his own training, 

When he show'd me the easiest way of refraining 

From each vice by oft quoting all persons that were 

Then notorious. So, if with thrift and due care 

He advis'd me to live and contented enjoy 

What he had amass'd for me, he'd say, " My dear boy, 

Don't you notice how badly young Albius lives, 

And how destitute Barrus is ? Each of them gives 

Signal proof that he's foolish who recklessly wastes 

What a father has earn'd." Then, to check deprav'd tastes 

And illicit indulgence in love, he'd observe, 

" Don't you be like Scetanus." Again, to preserve 

Me quite safe from adultery and loss of fame, 

When I might love more lawfully, he would exclaim, 

" I don't envy Trebonius in the act caught ! 

From philosophers' reasons you'll learn why one ought 

1 Petillius stole a crown from the Capitol, but was acquitted because he 
was a friend of the Emperor Augustus. 



48 



SATIRE IV. 



To shun this or choose that, but content I shall rest 

If I keep good old customs the ancients thought best ; 

And as long as a guardian you need, if I'm able 

To guard safely your life and your name : when more stable 

Your mind grows, and stronger your limbs age has made, 

You will float in the wide sea of life without aid." 

By his words he thus train'd me when I was a boy, 

And when bidding me some course of action employ, 

He would quote some grand x juryman as an example, 

And remark, " For thus acting here's precedent ample." 

Or again, if he e'er had to say, " Do not do 

This or that," — he would question me thus : — " What ? can you 

Still have doubts whether it be disgraceful or no, 

And against your true interest, when So-and-so 



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Ground plan of the Portico of Octavia, with temples of Jupiter and 
Juno within its precincts. See illustration on next page. 

Is the talk of the town for his wicked excesses?" 
When a funeral takes place next door, it depresses 
With terror sick gluttons, and makes them through fear 
Less indulgent, because they think death is so near. 



1 The judices selecti were 360 men chosen by the Aurelian law from 
among the senators, knights, and tribunes, to try criminal cases. 



SATIRE IV. 



49 



So another's disgrace will deter the young mind 

Oft from vice : so it is that myself I now find 

Free from vices that bring men to ruin and want ; 

Though my trifling, excusable foibles I can't 

Yet remove : though from these, what my candid friends say, 

Length of life and reflection will take much away. 

And I always examine my heart when I walk 

In the cloister,* or thus in my study I talk 




* Peristylium, or colonnade round a courtyard in the interior 
of a house. 

To myself : " This is best ; — doing this I shall live 

Better, and my dear friends their affection will give. — 

On the contrary, there some one made a mistake, — 

And I wonder if I shall unconsciously make 

Such an error as that?" Thus I muse, and at leisure 

Jot my thoughts down on manuscript for my own pleasure. 

And that's one of the faults that deserve, as I've said, 

Some excuse ; and if you won't excuse it, to aid 

Me in crowds will flock round the " Bard's Great Brotherhood " 

(For we outnumber you very easily) : — should 

You resist, and like 1 clamorous Jews, we will get 

You to pardon my fault, — ay, join our noisy set. 



1 The Jews were very numerous at Rome, and very turbulent in their 
endeavours to secure proselytes. 



SATIRE V. 

THE JOURNEY FROM ROME TO BRINDISI. 

In this Satire Horace imitates Lucilius, who made a journey from Rome 
to Capua, and then to Sicily. The time taken in travelling was fifteen 
days, and the distance travelled about 390 miles. M^cenas, Virgil, 
Plotius, and Varius accompanied the poet, but not on the first part 
of the way. Although a State mission, it rather resembled an excur- 
sion. It refers to the Treaty of Tarentum, made between Octavianus 
and Antony. 

Upon leaving great Rome, I first found food and rest 
In x La Riccia's little hotel. Far the best 





Linter (boat used for rowing in 
marshy places). 



Alticinctus (figure with tunic drawn 
high up through the girdle for 
quick travelling). 



Of the Greek rhetoricians then living, by name 
Yclept Heliodorus, went too. We next came 



1 First day's journey from Rome to Aricia, now La Riccia, a town in 
Latium, — 16 miles. The Reman mile was 142 yards less than ours. 



SATIRE V. 51 



To the town 1 Borgo Lungo, where bargemen abound, 

And where scarcely an honest innkeeper is found. 

To arrive there from Rome we took idly two days, 

(Quick travellers take one). And this 2 Appian way's 

3 Not so bad if one only don't hurry on. 4 Here 

I resolv'd not to touch any food, through a fear 

Of the water, for 5 worse no one ever could get. 

So impatient I wait, till their dinners all ate 

Who like me meant to go by the barge. But, as sings 

The bard Ennius, " Night now its sable pall flings 

O'er the earth, and the sky 'gins to stud with each star," — 

When the slaves and the bargemen a mutual war 

Of reviling strike up. Cries a slave, u Drive ashore ! " 

" Where I am," — says the bargeman ; " hold hard, for no 

more 
Will I take : — why, by hundreds you're crowding them on 1 " — 
Ere the fare is collected, an hour is quite gone, 
Or the mule to the towing-rope yok'd. Then, all sleep 
We're denied ; for the marsh frogs or plaguy gnats keep 
Up their croaking or stinging, — while, drunk with flat wine, 
On the bank the mule-driver will roar out a line, 
Or a clown on the barge hum an answering lay, 
Both in praise of their mistresses now fai away. 

1 Second day, from La Riccia to Forum Appii, now Borgo Lungo, near 
Treponti,— 20 miles : 36 from Rome. 

2 The Appian road, by which they came, led from Rome to Capua, and 
was continued from thence by Trajan to Brindisi. 

3 I. e., one feels the fatigue less than those who tra\el fast. 

4 Journey by night and up to 10 o'clock a.m. next day, down a canal 
17 miles long, to the temple of the goddess Feionia. Traces of the 
canal still remain, and of a tower near Terracina, called now Torre otto 
Faccia. 

5 Even now the water is so bad at Borgo Lungo, that travellers will not 
stay longer than they can help. 



52 



SATIRE V. 



But at last the clown wearied drops into a doze, 

And the mule-driver, too, on the shore idle grows, 

Ties his mule to a stone, lets it go out to graze, 

And then snores fast asleep on his back. * The first rays 

Of the morning were breaking, when now we began 

To observe we had stopp'd ; till a hot-headed man 

Sprang out on to the bank, and with stout willow club 

Both the mule and its driver 'gan soundly to drub. 

Ere the clock had struck ten, scarce a passenger lands. 

In thy fount, great Feronia, lave we our hands 

And our faces, 2 and then after lunch up the hill 

For three miles further on travel 3 slowly, until 

We come under thy walls, Terracina, rear'd high 

Upon cliffs that gleam white from a distance. Here my 

Patron and dear 4 Cocceius we hop'd we should meet : — 

Both ambassadors sent of grave matters to treat : — 

Who had both reconcil'd friends' estrangements before. 

Here too black salve I rubb'd on my eyes that were sore. 

But meantime came my patron, and with him Cocceius, 

And Mark Antony's dearest friend, polish'd Fonteius. 

6 We pass'd gladly through Fondi, and well we laugh' d there 

At the honours assum'd by that soi-disant mayor • — 

i Originally the Romans guessed at the time by the sun. Afterwards 
they divided the day into 12 hours, reckoning from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 
up to Cicero's time divided the night into four watches of three hours each. 
They afterwards used water-clocks, constructed on a similar principle to 
our sand-glasses. 

2 Third day, from io o'clock a.m. Distance from Feronia to Terracina, 
3 miles : 20 miles from Borgo Lungo, 56 from Rome. Feronia was an 
ancient Italian goddess, confounded afterwards with Juno. 

3 Slowly because of the ascent to " Terracina." 

4 Cocceius Nerva, the great-grandfather of Nerva, afterwards Emperor, 
helped to reconcile Antony and Augustus. 

5 Fourth day, from Fundi, now Fondi, a Latin town, 13 miles from 



SATIRE V. 



53 



Though he was but in truth a mad clerk, and * purblind, 
Still the pan* of hot incense he strutted behind, 
Clad in purple-edg'd f white robe and senator's vest. 
In that 2 bankrupts' town, " Formiae," stopp'd we to rest, 
Where a bed 3 Varro found us and Capito food. 
4 On the morrow we all were in far better mood ; 




* Chafing-dish for incense f Figure clad in robe, with angustus 

(batilltim). clavus, 2l 5 narrow stripe, the badge 

of the equestrian order. 

For we met, at Bagnoli, dear Virgil again. 
Plotius too, and Varius, and franker men 

Terracina, 69 from Rome, on to Formiae, now Mola di Gaeta, — 12 miles 
from Fondi, 81 from Rome. 

1 Of course "Luscus" is really a cognomen ; but there maybe a jest 
meant in its application here. Even Maecenas was content with the 
angusticlave, a less richly adorned dress, which made the bustling pom- 
posity of Aufidius more ridiculous. 

2 An \ ironical allusion to Mamurra and his descendants. He was a 
Roman knight, engineer to Julius Caesar in Gaul, and afterwards satirized 
by Catullus for his luxury, and called " decoctor Formianus." 

3 Lucius Licinius Terentius Varro Murena. Maecenas married his sister. 

4 Fifth day, through Sinuessa, now Bagnoli, a town in Latium, 18 miles 
from Mola di Gaeta, 99 from Rome, on to the little villa near the^Cam- 
panus pons, now " Ponte Ceppani," — 3 miles from Bagnoli, 102 from Rome. 

6 The latus clavus was a similar stripe, only broader. 



54 SATIRE V. 



Or more honest than they are the world has ne'er seen, 
Or to whom than myself any dearer have been. 
Oh, what joy and what greetings between us there were ! 
I could never while sane aught to dear friends compare. 
Near the Ceppani bridge o'er the Savo we halt, 
Where * state officers found us hay, fuel, and salt ; 




* Pack-saddle and panniers (clitellas). 

And a bed in their cot. 2 Then, at 3 Capua's town 
In due season the mules lay their pack-saddles * down. 
Maecenas to " rounders" f goes. Virgil and I 
Go to sleep : for the game never suits either my 




t Trigon. See Note i, p. 72. 

Weakly eyes or his feeble digestion. We ow'd 
Shelter next to Cocceius' well-furnished abode, 

1 " Parochus " — an officer whose duty was to find indispensable neces- 
saries to government officers when travelling. 

2 Sixth day, from Capua, 22 miles from " Ponte Ceppani," 124 from 
Rome, to Cocceius's villa, near the Inns of Caudinm, or Caudine Forks ; 
near what is now called Monte Sarchio, — 21 miles from Capua, and 145 
from Rome. 

3 The village called " Santa Maria di Capoa " now stands on the old 
site of Capua, three miles from the present city. 



SATIRE V. 55 



Standing near the notorious Caudine defile. 

Now, ye Muses, I pray ye to sing in brief style 
Of the brawl between Messius, nicknam'd " the 2 Cock," 
And 3 Sarmentus, slave, clerk and buffoon : from what stock 
These champions sprang I would have ye describe. 

" The illustrious Cock" from the Oscans' 4 fam'd tribe 

Claim'd his birth. The Buffoon was a slave even then, 

For his mistress still liv'd : thus descended these men 

Met in fight. The Buffoon thus commences the strife : 

" You're uncommonly like a wild horse, 'pon my life." 

We laugh, and the Cock 5 with alacrity said, 

" Well, I take this your challenge," and then toss'd his 

head. 
Here the Buffoon rejoins, " Oh ! if but from your brow 
That once horny excrescence had not been cut, how 
Truly terrible you'd be! since when sadly marr'd 
Is your face, you thus threaten." For fearfully scarr'd 
On the brow the left side of his face was, where grew 
Bristles thickly. Sarmentus next, when not a few 



1 Account of the quarrel between Sarmentus and Messius, down to line 
71. A parody of Homer's "Iliad," bk. ii., line 484. 

2 The term " cicirrhus" is the same as the German "gackhahn." 

3 Sarmentus was formerly the slave of Marcus Favonius, who was out- 
lawed, and after the confiscation of his property, the slave Sarmentus fell 
to the lot of Maecenas. Rich nobles used to take buffoons with them on a 
journey. 

4 Ironical. The Oscans, a Campanian tribe, were notorious for their 
vices. 

5 The word "ipse" may imply that Messius wanted no aid from the 
spectators to induce him to accept the challenge, or that it so suited his own 
fancy, that he took it cheerfully. 



56 



SATIRE V. 



Jokes he now had made, both on his frightful V disease 
And his face, cried, " My good fellow, do, if you please, 





Buskin {cothurnus). 



f One genius frightening another with 
a Zaiva or mask. 



Dance, as formerly danc'd 2 Galatea's rough lover ; 
No buskin * or mask f with that face so scarr'd over 




Tragic actor with cork -soled buskin several inches thick 
to give an imposing appearance. 

Can you need." To all this the " Cock" smartly replied, 
By much fluent abuse, and such questions as, " I'd' 



1 Elephantiasis; a disease the Campanians suffered from. 

2 Sarmentus requests him to give them such a dance as the Cyclops 
Polyphemus, in the Roman pantomimes, was represented as dancing in his 
awkward and ridiculous wooing of the nymph Galatea. 



SATIRE V. 57 



Like to know if you have, as you vow'd you would do, 

1 Consecrated your chains to the household gods, who 
Have not yet earn'd their gift, for a clerk though you be, 
Still your mistress can claim you as her property ? — 
Why on earth did you e'er run away, when for you 

2 Quarter-rations, you lean manikin, might well do ? " 
Such amusement the pleasure of dining enhanc'd. 

3 Thence straight on to Benevento we advanc'd; 
Where the host, as officiously zealous he turn'd 

On the spit some lean thrushes got nearly well burn'd. 

For as Ennius sings, " From the grate Vulcan roll'd, 

And over the kitchen floor crumbling and old, 

Stray'd and hasted to play round the housetop." Then 

could 
One have seen the guests greedily seizing the food, 
And the slaves panic-stricken, through fear of their catching 
A sound beating, the dinner confusedly snatching, 
While to put out the flames we tried all that we knew. 

4 Next the hills of my own country rose into view : 
Hills the 5 easterly wind sweeps with withering blast; 
Hills we never had struggled up, had we not pass'd 

6 The night at the inn of Trivico close by, 

Though 'tis plagued so by smoke that it makes a man cry ; 

i A parody of the custom of youthful nobles at Rome, who offered their 
" bullae" ornaments to the household gods at the age of sixteen and a half 
years. 

2 Strong, able slaves used to eat four pounds of meal a day. 

3 Seventh day, from Cocceius's villa to Beneventum, now Benevento, — 
12 miles from the Inns of Caudium, and 157 from Rome. 

4 Eighth day, from Benevento to Trivicum, now Trivico, — distance not 
mentioned. It was a town on the borders of Campania. 

5 The Altino was an easterly wind. 

6 Ninth day, from Benevento to a villa near Trivico. 

F 



58 



SATIRE V. 



Where the fires are all fed by damp boughs and green leaves. 

Here I foolishly wait for a flame who deceives 

Me, and late in the evening I dropp'd off to sleep, 

And then dreamt of the fair who her word fail'd to keep. 

1 From this place, then, some jaunting-cars * quickly convey 

Us for twenty- four miles further, meaning to stay 

At a small town the name of which scarcely will scan 

In hexameters, but which one easily can 

Indicate by describing its features. They sell 

Water, cheap as it is ; though their bread loaves excel 




* Rkeda, a large roomy carriage for the transport of a large party. 

Those of all other towns, so that travellers who know 
How to manage, lay in a fresh stock ere they go. 

2 For the bread of the next place, Canosa, by grit 

3 Is quite spoil'd, and, besides that, it is not a bit 

1 Tenth day, from the villa near Trivico to Equus Tuticus, now Castel 
Franco, a town in Samnium, — 22 miles from Benevento, 177 from 
Rome. 

2 Eleventh day, from Castel Franco to Canusium, now Canosa, — 84 
miles from Benevento, 261 from Rome. 

3 The order is thus, with ellipses :— Qui locus (Canusium) non (una) urna 
aquae ilitior (quam oppidulum) a forti Diomede est conditus olim. 



SATIRE V. 59 



Better off than the other for water, and this 
The town formerly founded by Diomede is. 
But here Varius sadly to friends says Good-bye, 
And full many a tear drops from sorrowful eye. 

1 Then to Ruvo we came, wearied out ; just like men 
Who have travell'd a tedious journey, and when 
Rain has made the roads softer than they ought to be. 

2 The next day was finer, the roads worse till we 

Had reached Bari, that fisherman's haunt. — 3 The desire 
Of Fasano, built 'neath all the fountain nymphs' ire, 
To convince us that 4 frankincense, though no flames aid 
It, in some temple's entrance to melt can be made, 
Stirr'd our laughter and ridicule. 5 Those Jews who dwell 
O'er the Tiber may think so, not I : for full well 
6 Epicurus has taught me that gods free from cares 
Pass their time, and from heaven no anger of theirs 
Nature's wondrous phenomena down to earth sends. 
My dull tale and long journey 7 Brindisi here ends. 

1 Twelfth day, from Canosa to Rubi, now Ruvo, — 24 miles from 
Canosa, 285 from Rome. 

2 Thirteenth, day, from Ruvo to Barium, now Bari, — 22 miles from 
Ruvo, 307 from Rome. 

3 Fourteenth day, from Bari to Gnatia, now Fasano, — 37 miles from 
Ruvo, 345 from Rome. 

4 Pliny, in his Natural History, says that a certain stone was shown at 
Gnatia, which had the power of setting fire to wood. 

5 " Credat Judaeus Apella. " These words are equivalent to saying, Let 
any superstitious Jew who lived across the Tiber believe it. The Jews lived 
in great numbers there. Apella was a common name for freedmen. 

6 The doctrine of Epicurus held that the gods never troubled themselves 
at all about mankind, and that therefore portentous occurrences could not 
arise, as the superstitious especially, and others to some extent, thought, 
from the anger of heaven. 

7 Fifteenth day, from Fasano to Brindisi, — 44 miles from Fasano^ 393 
from Rome. 



SATIRE VI. 

HORACE wrote this Satire to defend his reputation from the jealous invec- 
tives of men who asserted that he had stolen into favour by a lucky 
accident, as in times such as those preceding the reign of Augustus, 
when nobles' families were ruined through political changes, of course 
many were raised to great distinctions for political motives instead of 
any real merit of their own. The Satire is also especially interesting, 
as telling us something of the satirist's private habits and life. 

You, dear Patron, do not, as most other men, sneer 

At all those of low origin, like me, a mere 

Freedman's son, just because not e'en one single man 

1 Sprung from Lydian settlers in Tuscany, can 

Boast a nobler descent than yourself; nor because 

You have ancestors who once conducted great wars, 

On the father's and mother's side too. 2 And, indeed, 

When you say that, provided the father be freed, 

The descent is of very small consequence ; then, 

You're undoubtedly right in supposing that men 

Oftentimes, before 3 Servius Tullius' sway 

And ignoble reign, though from low origin they 

Might have sprung, have both liv'd like the honest and true, 

And been rais'd to the highest state offices too. 



1 The Lydians formerly settled in Etruria under the guidance of Tyrrhe- 
nus, a son of king Atys, who was also the father of Lydus. The Tuscans 
were more addicted to using metronymics than patronymics. 

2 Slaves were not admitted to the rights of citizens. 

3 Horace, being the son of a freedman, escaped the bar. The mother of 
Servius Tullius was a slave. 



SATIRE VI. 6 1 



1 You're aware, too (to quote quite an opposite case), 
That Laevinus, whose ancestor Tarquin's proud race 
Help'd to drive from the throne, no advantage could claim 
From his birth, for the bar sinister to his name 

Fix'd that people whose custom you very well know, 

Who so foolishly ofttimes high office bestow 

Upon unworthy men, are the slaves of repute 

Most absurdly ; who stare with amaze blank and mute 

At inscriptions on statues, or public men's tombs, 

Or wax pictures of statesmen hung round entrance-rooms. 

2 How ought I then to act, and how those like me, who 
Nor think with the vulgar, nor do as they do ? 

Pray, shall we too for high office canvass ? Not so, 
For the people perhaps would prefer to bestow 
Their distinctions e'en on a Laevinus, than trust 
Them to parvenu 3 Decius. I might be thrust 
From the House by the 4 censor's distinguishing hand, 
For no freedman a seat in the House can command. 
And 'twould only be what I deserv'd : for I then 
Should aim higher than nature intended such men. 

1 " Probe nosti," or some such words, are understood from the words 
' 'persuades hoc tibi vere." Publius Valerius Laevinus, descended from 
Valerius Publicola the colleague of Brutus instead of Collatinus, was so dis- 
solute that he never got higher than the rank of quaestor. The argument 
is that Laevinus the noble must indeed be worthless, if the people, who 
generally feel an ignorant excess of reverence for high birth and title, found 
such fault with him. 

a " Nos " implies I and those of similar sentiments. 

8 Decius Mus, of plebeian origin, is quoted to represent a class. 

4 The duty of a censor was to regulate the public morals and rate the 
citizens. Horace, of course, was no senator, but he is supposing that he 
was in a similar position to any high government officer. The allusion is 
to Appius Claudius Pulcher, censor, a.U.C 702, who ejected many from 
the senate because of their low origin. 



62 



SATIRE VI. 



But the epic bard sings, " In bright chariot * Fame, 

Enslav'd draws the lowly and noble the same." 

1 And what good to you, 2 Tillius, to wear again 

The rich senator's dress lost in Julius' reign? 

To be rais'd to a general's rank ? You are more 

Envied now than when holding no office before. 

And, indeed, soon as e'er each mad senator round 

3 His leg by the four black leather shoe-strings has bound 





* Two-wheeled chariot (currus). Triumphal chariot. 

On the shoe, whether purple or white, and then, drest 
In the tunic, his broad stripe let flow o'er his breast, 
He directly will hear such remarks made as these : 
" Tell me who that man is there, and tell me who he's 
The son of." Just as all who, deluded, desire 
To be thought handsome, go where they will, still inspire 

1 "Quo" is the old form for " cui," and there is an ellipsis of " com- 
modo est." 

2 Tillius is quoted as an instance of the universal and absurd desire for 
glory then evinced at Rome : he was degraded from the senate as a fol- 
lower of Pompey, and restored after Caesar's death. 

. 3 Four strings or strips of black soft leather fastened the senator's shoes, 
which were either white or purple, round the leg. They had also a crescent 
of ivory round the ankle. 



SATIRE VI. 63 



All the ladies with curious wish to discover 
All about such a dashing and general lover ; 
As, for instance, what features, what figure, what face, 
Teeth or hair he may have ? — so, a similar case 
Would it be, should a man this intention declare : — 
1 " Of the nation, — of Rome I engage to take care ; 
Nay, the empire, my country, and temples I'll guard," — 
Why, he'd make all the world with attention regard 
His descent, and inquire if possibly he 
2 Should disgrac'd by a mother's obscurity be. 
" What ? dare you " — cry the people, — 3 " base son of a churl, 
Roman citizens down the Tarpeian rock hurl ?" 
4 " You forget," he replies, " that my colleague's degree 
Is still worse ; 5 for what my father was, now is he." 
But the people rejoin, "Just for this do you deem 
That to us one of Rome's greatest 6 nobles you seem ? 
And besides this, your colleague can make enough noise 
By his shouts as to drown both the horns * and hautboys, 
Though there met in the market-place two hundred wains * 
And three funerals' pomp. This our fancy enchains." 
But some more of myself now, — the son of the freedman 
I will say, whom all carp at as, — son of the freedman. 
* See cut on next page. 

1 Malice might find something similar in members' liberal promises before 
election. 

2 As, for instance, Atia, the mother of Octavianus. 

* Syrus, Dama, Dionysius, were the usual names of slaves. 

4 " Gradu post me sedet uno," sits one row behind me. This refers to 
the fourteen rows set apart for the Equestrian Order ; and the best of 
these reserved seats were assigned to the highest in birth and rank. 

5 I. e., he is a freedman, but I am the son of a freedman, and conse- 
quently one degree his superior. 

6 Paullus and Messalla were great nobles. The funerals at Rome were 
attended by trumpeters and cornet -players. 



6 4 



SATIRE VI. 



And they carp at me now, since so often at your 

House, dear Patron, I'm seen ; though they did so before, 

1 Because once a brigade I led on to the fight. 

And a case very different that, for one might 

With some justice begrudge me distinctions like those, 

Though one could not the friendship your favour bestows ; 

But should think of the cautious discernment you use, 

And that so men of worth, not place-hunters, you choose. 

I can't say I your friendship by accident gain'd, 

For it was by no chance I your notice attain'd. 




Large trumpet. 



Cornicen 
(trumpeter). 



Plostrum (waggon). 



For dear Virgil, then Varius told you what claim 

To your favour I had, long ago. When I came 

First before you, and few words in tones low and broken 

(For my diffidence check'd further speech) I had spoken, 

No proud birth could I mention, broad acres, or rare 

2 Stud of horses ; for then I could only declare 



1 Horace refers to the battle of Philippi : see Life. There were six 
military tribunes, who commanded by turns, to each Roman legion, which, 
like our regiment, varied in the number of soldiers it contained. 

* Saturium was a town near Tarentum, and famed for its breed of 
horses. 



SATIRE VI. 



65 



That I was but the son of a freedman, bereft 
Through Philippi of means that his father had left. 
A few words you replied as you're wont: then I went 
From your house. 1 More than half a year after you sent 
Once again for me, and bade me then take a place 
With your friends. This I prize, that by no noble race, 
But an unspotted life and pure heart I pleas'd you, 
Who distinguish the base from the 2 honest and true. 
If a few trifling foibles a character mar 
That's correct in the main — as when blemishes are 




Interior of school (ludus) at Herculaneum for boys and girls. 

Here and there to be found with great personal 

beauty ; — 
If, to praise myself, I, free from guilt, do my duty, 
Live belov'd by my friends, while with truth not a man 
A mean, miserly act, or bad company, can 
Urge against me : all this to my father I owe, 
3 Who, though but a poor farmer, did not let me go 



1 This time Maecenas purposely suffeied to elapse that he might 
thoroughly test the merits of the ex-general officer. 

2 " Honestum " and " turpi" are masculine, not neuter substantives, 
and agree with " homine " understood. 

3 See the Life. 



66 SATIRE VI. 



1 To the school of the village, though thither the great 
Sons of still greater captains would go with the 2 slate,* 
And the satchel hung on their left arms, and the fee 
For instruction in ciphering or A B C, 
To deposit according to custom whene'er 
Came the 13th or 15th of each month prepare — 
But had spirit sufficient to take me from home, 
That thus education I might get at Rome 




* Roman youth with his bulla or globular ornament round his neck, 
his tablet on his knees, and book box on the ground beside him. 

3 In such subjects as members of parliament ought, 
Or rich gentry to see that their children are taught. 
All who notic'd the slaves who attended me dress'd 
As in great cities gentlemen are, would have guess'd 

1 Flavius was the village schoolmaster. The mention of centurions is 
ironical, although a centurion would be a great man in the village of 
Venusia. 

2 "^Era" means the small sums paid for tuition; " octonis " is used 
because the Ides fell on the eighth day after the Nones. Another inter- 
pretation, and a likely one, is this: on the 13th or 15th of every month 
(the Ides fell on the 15th in March, May, July, and October), they deposited 
according to custom small sums in the master's keeping for instruction in 
arithmetic or the alphabet. 

3 Such as rhetoric, poetry, and philosophy. 



SATIRE VI. 67 



That the means to defray such expenses, from some 

Fine ancestral estate or great fortune must come. 

As from one lecture-room to the other I wended 

My way, my dear ' father (no slave) me attended ; 

A guardian nought e'er could corrupt : but why waste 

Further words ? 'Tis enough that he kept his son 2 chaste, — 

Chastely free not alone from the deed but the stain 

Of foul slander : no virtue in youth can attain 

Brighter lustre than chastity gives ! And no blame 

Did he fear e'er would light upon him if the same 

Business he before plied, the tax-gatherer's, or 

Auctioneer's, I should ever have ventur'd on, nor 

Should I e'er have complain' d : and for this reason he 

Greater praise and more gratitude merits from me. 

I shall never regret, while my senses remain, 

Such a father as this, and so I should disdain 

To say, as many do, " It is no fault of mine 

That I lack well-born parents' illustrious line.'' 

No, my words and my thoughts differ widely from those 

Foolish men's : nay, if nature should let us, suppose 

From the fortieth year of our lives live again, 

And permit us to each choose such fathers as fain 

Our caprice would select ; still contentedly I 

3 Would keep mine, and no praetor or consul ally 

With me : mad in the people's idea, although sane 

As you think, very likely, because I refus'd 

1 Instead of the usual slave called " pcedagogus," who attended children 
to and from school, and even during their play hours, and who taught them 
French. So our custom of having a bonne for our children. 

1 Which was indeed rare in a city like Rome. 

5 The consul and praetor were called curule magistrates, and were ^enti- 
tled to the honour of the fasces — bundles of rods with an axe in the middle 
— and the ivory curule chair. 



68 



SATIRE VI. 



To bear tedious rank to which ne'er I was us'd. 

For the moment one rises to such lofty grade, 

Ampler means must be found, and more > compliments paid ; 

Or, if into the country excursions one made, 

Lest — " he went with no retinue " — e'er should be said. 

One would have to take one or two more on the way, 

For more grooms, and more hacks, and more 2 carriages pay. 

While I now to 3 Tarentum can ride if I care, 

By a humble mule carried, whose loins have to bear 

The portmanteau and shoulders the rider, till gall'd 

With the weight, — and yet, Tillius, none e'er have call'd 




Cattle market (Forum Boarium). Vegetable market (Forum Olitorium). 

4 Me as mean as yourself, for to Tibur whene'er 
You go, only five slaves attend you, the lord mayor, 

5 Bearing pots and pans too, and a basket of wine. 
So, illustrious member, far better than thine 

Is my lot, in this and many ways, for I go 

By myself for a walk where I please, get to know 

i An allusion to the complimentary morning visits paid by " clientes " — 
dependants, on their patrons. 

2 " Petorrita :" a Gallic word derived from "peduar," " quatuor," 
four, and " rit," " rota," a wheel. 

3 Tarentum, now Taranto, a town in Lower Italy. 

4 Tibur, now Tivoli, was an ancient town of Latium on both sides of the 
river Arno. 

6 Signs of great parsimony for a man in such a high station. 



SATIRE VI. 



6 9 



What's the price of potatoes and wheat ; or at eve 

Through the markets* and l Circus walk,f where quacks deceive 

LliicJltn: 



IflS" 



] 





biTE^ 






# Large open area, on a more magnificent scale than the one on p. 67, 
for public meetings in the open air and for the transaction of judicial 
and commercial business, surrounded by the principal public buildings, 
state offices, and places of worship. 2 

f See cut on next page. 

1 The Circus Maximus was built by Tarquinius Priscus between the 
Palatine and Aventine hills, and could contain 100,000 spectators. It was 
surrounded by galleries three stories high, and a canal. Most of the public 
games and entertainments were held there. It was a favourite resort of 
vagabonds, cut-purses, and astrologers. 

2 A, the principal entrance ; B, Corinthian temple to Jupiter ; C, another 



70 



SATIRE VI. 



And where mountebanks show off their tricks. I stand by, 
While the wizards or prophets to tell fortunes try. 
Then I go away home my plain dinner to get, 
And before me the leek, pulse, or pancake is set. 




Ancient racecourse at Constantinople, with superstructure 
of a circus and car ceres. 

Three slaves wait : on a table of common delf made, 
Two wine-glasses and ladle in order are laid, 



ft=e§ 





* Jug to pour out 
liquid drop by- 
drop (guttus). 



f Bowls with and without handles 
for drinking and pouring liba- 
tions (pateras). 



Deeper bowl 
(patina) for 
stews, ra- 
gouts, &c. 



A cheap salt-cellar by them, a cruet,* and bowl f 
Of Campanian earthenware, make up the whole. 

entrance and public prison ; D, public granary; E, Corinthian temple to 
Venus ; F, Town-hall and Exchange ; G, H, I, three similar public build- 
ings, probably two council chambers and the public treasury ; K, remains 
of square building, use not known, behind which are sites of three private 
houses ; L, plot of ground surrounded by colonnade and cloister, and 
decorated in front, where it passes the Forum, by a spacious porch ; M, 
small temple to Quirinus or Mercury ; N, meeting-hall for the college of 
twenty-five priests called Augustales ; O, Pantheon or banqueting hall of 
the Augustales. 



SATIRE VI. 



71 



In due time I retire to my bed,— enjoy rest, 
Undisturb'd by the thought that, as soon as I'm dress'd 
On the morrow to visit the courts I must hie, 
Where the ugly stone x statue of Marsyas, by 





Abacus (side-board for setting out 
the plate, drinking-vessels, &c, 
in the triclinium or dining-room). 



Courtyard before a house, temple, 
set of baths, or any edifice (vesti- 
bulum. ) 



The rais'd hand plainly shows that he really can't brook 
The grim usurer Novius' hideous look. 
I remain in my study until it strikes ten : 
After that I go out for a stroll, or else when 
I have read something which I approve on reflection 
Or thought if what's written needs any correction, 
I anoint me with oil, although certainly not 
With the stuff that some dirty old miser has got 
By depriving the lamps * of their own. When the rays 
Of the sun have reminded me by their fierce blaze 
* See cuts on next page. 



1 There was a statue of Marsyas in front of the Rostra where pleaders 
used to meet, and bail be given ; and usurers also carried on their business 
here. Marsyas was a statue of the satyr of that name, and the jest is, that 
though Marsyas (as a satyr) was ugly enough, yet he deprecated the 
usurious chicanery of the younger Novius by holding up a hand with a 
gesture of disgust, and so Novius must have been hideous. 



72 



SATIRE VI. 



they 



Now weary to go to the bath : — then away 

From the Plain of Mars and from those * " rounders " 

play 
I keep far. After lunching in quite a plain way, 
Just enough to keep hunger off till close of day, 





* Terra-cotta or bronze lamp Similar lamp to the other, with 

(hicerna), with one wick. two wicks and fittings for 

hanging up. 

I enjoy rest at home. Such the life that men lead, 

Who from wretched place-hunting's dull thraldom are. freed : 

Thus, think I, shall I live more delightfully than 

If some relative had been, — a 2 petty statesman. 



1 Among the various kinds of play the trigon (fiila trigonalis) was the 
most popular. Three players were required, who stood in a triangle. 
Expert players threw and caught the ball with the left hand. The game 
was a very boisterous one. See illustration on page 54 for trigon. 

2 The quaestorship formed a sort of avenue to the higher offices of state, 
and no one was eligible for it until he was twenty-five years old. The quaestors 
were state treasurers, and as delegates of the people conducted certain 
criminal trials. They were also paymasters in the army, and managed the 
commissariat department, and were sometimes deputy-governors of 
provinces. 



SATIRE VII. 

Describing a noisy piece of litigation between the outlaw Rupilius Rex, 
and a banker and general agent called Persius, who was descended 
from an Asiatic father and Roman mother, and lived at Clazomenae, 
a city in Ionia. 

In the surgeries whither oft * blear-eyed men go, 

And the barbers' shop, doubtless, all very well know 

How that half-Roman Persius amply repaid 

Both the malice and spite of Rupilius, said 

To be outlaw'd and christen'd "the King." Very rich, 

At Clazomenae Persius lent money, which 

Brought a troublesome suit with " the King ;" stubborn too 

Was this Persius, and in deep hatred one who 

Could surpass e'en " the King : " — bold, hot-temper'd, and 

proud, 
And so bitter in speech that 2 he distanc'd in loud 
Abuse all our most noted buffoons. But to say 
Something more of " the King " I propose. Well, when they 
Could not make any compromise, and without doubt, 
Men between whom a bitter strife has fallen out, 

1 It was a very common thing to suffer from blear or sore eyes ; and 
those who did would go to the apothecaries' or barbers' shops, which were 
the usual places for gossip. 

2 "Equis prsecurreret albis "= " longe superaret." White steeds were 
proverbially the fastest. The Sisennae and the Barri ; — these are appel- 
latives which must be taken to mean, "like a Sisenna,"' or "like a Barrus," 
both of whom were noted buffoons remarkable for their fluent abuse. 

G 



74 SATIRE VII. 



Will, just as they're more brave, so more hotly contend : 

Nay, so deadly the feud, that death only could end 

It between brave x Achilles and Priam's son Hector, 

Just because each possess'd valour free from defect ; — or 

If cowards should quarrel, or if between men 

Most unequally match'd strife arise, 'twill be then, 

As, when Lycian Glaucus with 2 Diomede fought, 

The less spirited combatant drew back, and bought 

Off his life by presenting a ransom : — So then, 

As I said, since they could not agree, these two men— 

This Rupilius and Persius, such a pair — 

So well match'd, that no gladiators ever were 

Pitted better against one another: — both fought 

Out their suit at Clazomense in 3 Brutus' court, 

(Fertile Asia was under that Governor's sway :) 

As a soldier to battle-field hurries, so they 

Fiercely rush into court, both strange figures indeed. 

And first Persius starts up his own case to plead. 

Loudly laughs the assembly, while Brutus he lauds, — 

Lauds the jury his retinue, — Brutus rewards 

With the term " Sun of Asia ;" bestows next the name 

" Stars of health" on the jury, but cried, " 2 hat King came 

Like the dog-star that parches the crops, farmers hate." 

And in fine his abuse roll'd in torrents as great 

1 Horace mentions these great Homeric heroes to make the contrast 
more ridiculous between them and the brawlers. 

2 See Iliad, vi. , 234 sq. 

3 Brutus was praetor when he took part in the assassination of Julius 
Caesar. Asia was what was called a proconsular province, i. e., its 
governor was to be a man of consular rank. This rule was not accurately- 
kept in the confusion consequent on the death of Julius Caesar, and the 
Senate, considering that their hopes were centred in Brutus, strengthened 
his hands as much as they could by appointments, among which was the 
province of Asia. 



SATIRE VII. 75 



As when stormy floods rise, where but seldom a tree 

On the steep banks by woodmen fell'd can a man see. 

But as Persius with fluent readiness pours 

Forth his rancour, ] Praeneste's son hurls back his stores 

Of rich 2 slang, from the vineyard's * fierce clamour produc'd :- 

A rough vine-dresser he, never beaten, who us'd 




* Long covered walk in vineyard with vines arranged on a trellis. 

Oft to force to submit any passer-by who 
Should have cried to him loudly, " Holloa ! 3 the cuckoo 
Has long come, and your work is not done, I can see." 
But here Persius, with a 4 Greek's quick repartee, 
Smarting sore with the pain of the Latin wit's stings. 
Cries, 5 " O Brutus ! you are wont to rid us of kings ; 
So, by heaven, I beg you take off this King too. 
Ton my life 'tis a task that belongs well to you." 

1 The "king" was a native of Prseneste, now Palestrina, a town in 
Latium, famed for the beauty of its roses, its nuts, and still more for its 
temple of Fortune and the oracle connected with it. 

2 The slang of the vineyard corresponded to our " Billingsgate. " 

3 Husbandmen pruned their vines and did other work in spring before 
the cuckoo came, and to cry " cuckoo " was a reproach to idle men who 
had neglected their work until the cuckoo had come. 

4 The Greeks were much more polished and witty than the Romans ; to 
suppose "Graecus" a mere repetition of the idea conveyed by the word 
"hybrida" would be pointless. 

5 This Marcus Brutus was supposed to be descended from L. Junius 
Brutus, who expelled Tarquin. 



SATIRE VIII. 



A rustic deity, once worshipped by the people of Lampsacus, and by the 
Romans after as a god of gardens, complains that the Esquiline hill 
was infested by the magic rites of sorceresses, and scares them away. 

The main object of the Satire is to show that the better educated classes 
did not in any degree adopt the popular belief in sorcery. 

The God speaks. — I was once but a block, a mere log of 
figwood, 
When the workman who carv'd me, in doubt if he should 
Make a footstool * or god of me, like him of yore 





* Bedside step or stool (scamnum). * Higher footstool with double 

step for the feet (scabdlum 
or suppedaneum). 

The good people of Lampsacus used to adore, 




Seat with step below for the feet to rest on (scamnum or subsdlium). 



SATIRE VIII. 



77 



Chose at last that I should be the garden-god ; hence 

I became the god, look'd on with deep reverence 

By all robbers and birds : for a stake painted red, 

Or the hook in my hand checks thieves, while on my head 





* Coffin with raised sill for Range of tombs on each side of the way 

the head and hole to outside gates of Pompeii, 

pour aromatic balsams 
through (area). 

The reed stuck up, when shaken by wind, scares away 
All the mischievous birds, nor e'er suffers that they 
In the pleasure-grounds planted just lately should rest, 
Though before slaves would often in some dirty chest 



EX-SEN&T. CONSVtf' 

,VT tR«rEsmNos-eT-v£ic^ vt - 
TERMINOsOVCST*^ 





Section of tombstone 
with moveable lid 
and cavity for re- 
ceiving the ashes. 



Rectangular tombstone 
(cippus) on the Via 
Appia. 



Cippus (short round 
pillar to mark boun- 
daries between ad- 
jacent states). 



For a coffin,* their fellow-slaves' dead bodies lay 
From their huts thrown, for dead-carts to hither convey. 



7 8 



SATIRE VIII. 



Here the dregs of the people were buried, and soon 

1 Would have been Rome's worst rakes or Gripe-all the 

buffoon : — 
Then this column,* you see, stood to mark out the space : — 
(There were three hundred thousand square feet in the 

place) — 
On it was too that caution in law which declares, 

2 That a property never must pass to the heirs. 
On the Esquiline hill one may now very well 

Take a house, and there free from all pestilence dwell ; 

Or may walk on a neat sunny terrace — although 

One would mournfully gaze but a few days ago 

On men's whitening bones that disfigur'd the ground. 

Yet the thief and the fox that go prowling around 

The place do not cause me such distress or alarms 

As these fhags, who, by drugs and by sorcery's charms, 




f Saga (witch, sorceress, fortune-teller). 

So entangle men's minds, for I find that I can't 

Or destroy them or stop them from culling some plant 

* See cut on previous page. 

1 Pantolabus and Nomentanus, who were then alive. 

2 That is, it was given in perpetuity to the public. 



SATIRE VIII. 



79 



That is baleful, or picking up dry bones as soon 
As appears the chaste orb of the wandering moon. 





* Figure fastening ih.^ palla or cloak 
with brooch on the right shoulder, 



Mulier palla succincta (figure 
with cloak girt up or 
short). 



already fastened on the left 

shoulder. 
I myself saw x Canidia with her feet bare, 
And her sable cloak * girt up, with wild streaming hair, 





Figure with palla over the stola 
or usual female robe. 



Another form of palla , decorated 
with broad scarf. 



Stalk on shrieking with 2 Sagana's sister the elder, 
And so pale as to strike me with dread who beheld her. 

1 Canidia was a very celebrated sorceress, mentioned also in the Epodes 
of Horace. 

3 Sagana had a younger sister. 



8o 



SATIRE VIII. 



Then they scratch' d up the earth with their nails, and then 

tore 
Bit by bit with their teeth a black lamb, and its gore 
Pour'd into the hole they had dug, with intent 
Thence to summon the shades, — ghosts to answer them meant. 

1 There were also two images, one made of wool, 
One of wax : and the greater, of wool, was to rule, 
And to punish the less, which in suppliant wise 

2 Stood, as stands a slave ere by the torture he dies : 
Then the image of wool invok'd Hecate's aid, 
While the waxen to vengeful 3 Tisiphone pray'd. 

Then you might see hell hounds stray about, ay, and snakes 
Crawl along, while the sight e'en the moon herself makes 





Tutulus (head-dress formed by 
piling up the hair and tying 
it with a purple riband). 



Female head-dress, or sort of 
wig {t -alien drum). 



Blush and hide her behind the huge graves. If I tell 
Not the truth, may all insults that ever befell 
Any god befall me ! Though why should I tell each 
Thing they did ? — How alternately with wail or screech 
The ghosts answer'd inquiries that Sagana made ; — 
How by stealth in the earth then a wolf's beard they laid, 



1 Canidia was the woollen image, the false lover the waxen one. 

2 Slaves were burnt, tortured, and crucified. 

3 Tisiphone was the Fury that avenged blood especially. Alecto and 
Megsera were the two others. 



SATIRE VIII. 8 1 



With a spotted snake's tooth ; — how then fiercer the flame 

Darted forth from the image of wax ; how, no tame, 

Willing witness, I look'd on these hags' magic rite ? — 

'Tis enough to declare that I scar'd them outright. 

Off to Rome they both started, and then with great fun 

And loud laugh you might see the false teeth of the one 

Dropping out of her mouth, and the tall fete of hair 

Of the other come tumbling about her, while their 

Magic plants and l charm'd lovers' knots on their arms bound, 

Tumbled down in their fright and lay scatter'd around. 



1 Threads of different colours to chain the affections with. See Hor. ib. 
line 39. Pediatius was a Roman knight so effeminate that his name was 
changed to Pediatia, as Caligula, instead of Caius, was called "Caia." 
Julius was an intimate acquaintance of his. Voranus, the thief, was a 
freedman of Quintus Lutatius Catullus. 



SATIRE IX. 

Against would-be poets and critics, who annoyed Horace, and tried to 
thrust themselves into favour with Maecenas. 

On the 1 Sacred Road lately it chanc'd that I went 

For a walk, and according to custom, intent 

On some trifle, abstractedly mus'd on the same, 

When a man whom I certainly did know by name, 

Ran up quickly, and 2 seizing my hand, exclaim'd, " How 

Do you do, my dear sir ? " 3 " Thank you kindly, just now 

Pretty well," said I ; then, as he follow'd close by, 

Ere he spoke — with the usual leave-taking— "can I 

Do aught for you?" I bade him good morning; but he 

Cried, " I too am an author, you surely know nie." 

" Oh, indeed ! " said I, " now I shall think all the more 

Of you." Then trying hard to get rid of this bore, 

I one moment walk'd faster, another would stand 

Still, or to my page whisper some secret command, 

When the sweat of despair from my brow trickled down. 

As he kept prating on of the streets or the town, 

Mutter'd I, Lucky were you, 4 Bolanus, to have 

That hot temper ! Here, as I persistently gave 

1 The Sacred Road was a favourite walk at Rome. 

2 The verb "arripio" implies that the "bore" seized instead of took 
Horace by the hand. 

3 The phrase "cupio omnia quae vis" was a mere frigid form of 
courtesy. 

4 Bolanus was a mad, passionate fellow, who soon told those he did not 
like what he thought of them, and so rid himself of them. Bolanus was 
a surname of the Vettii, from Bola, a town of the ^Equi, a warlike people 
of ancient Italy. 



SATIRE IX. 83 



Him no answer, he cried, " I've long seen how you would 

Like to get safe away from me, but it's no good ; 

I shall stay by you, and shall, wherever you're bound, 

Follow closely." I answer — " No use can be found 

In my taking you out of your way : —I would call 

On some man (I feel sure you don't know him at all) 

111 in bed, on yon side of the Tiber, quite near 

The park Julius Caesar bequeathed to us." Here 

He rejoin'd, " Oh, I'm active, and have nought to do, 

And so even that distance I'll travel with you." 

Then, like donkeys that stubbornly let down their ears, 

When too heavy the burden they carry appears, 

Just so wretchedly I then dropp'd mine. Again he 

Thus began : — " If I rate myself fairly, you'll be 

As attach'd to myself as to Viscus your friend, 

Or to Varius ; for, prithee, who can pretend 

To write lines more in number or quicker than I ? 

Whose dancing or gestures more graceful ? — and my 

Singing really quite jealous might make a Sims Reeves." 

As to get a word in here a good chance he leaves, 

I say, " Have you relations still living, — a mother, 

Who your welfare desires?" " Neither one nor the other," 

Replies he : "I have laid them to rest." Lucky they ! 

1 Mutter I to myself : now I'm left that you may — 

Lay me also to rest. 2 Come, then, kill me ! for o'er 

My head surely impends the sad fate which of yore, 

After shaking the lots fortune-tellers' urns hold, 

The Sabellian soothsaying beldame foretold 

To me when but a boy : — for thus sang she, " This boy 

No poison, no enemy's sword shall destroy, 

1 It is clear that Horace says this to himself, as the "bore " makes no 
reply to it. 

2 This and the three following lines are mock-heroic. 



84 



SATIRE IX. 



No consumption, no pleurisy, no crippling gout, 

But a prater shall some time him slowly wear out : — 

So the moment that he has come to man's estate, 

If he mean to be wise, let him shun all who prate." 

We had reach'd 1 Vesta's fane, which was close to the court, 

And 'twas now nine o'clock, and at that time he ought 

To have answer' d the plaintiff's call, for all who fail, 

Lose the money they have to deposit as bail. 





Janua (street or entrance door to house 
at Pompeii). 



Bas-relief of triumphal arch 
of Marcus Aurelius, per- 
forming sacrifice in front 
of the Capitoline temple. 



So he said, " My dear sir, I beseech you, do stay 
Here awhile." " Ton my life," I replied, " I can't play 
Special pleader ; the law, too, I don't comprehend. 
And besides that, as soon as may be, I intend 



1 Between the Capitol and the palace, and near the court of Libo. 



SATIRE IX. 85 



To arrive, you know whither." " Now just let me see 
What to do — give up you or my case ?" said he. " Me, 
I entreat you, my dear sir, give me up," I cried. 
But beginning to lead on again, he replied, 
"No, I won't !" and so I had to follow of course, 
As 'tis hard to contend with superior force. 
Then begins he again : "Pray, how now do you stand 
With your patron ? Access to him few can command : 
And besides, he is shrewdly discerning : — in fact, 
In a station so high none have shown greater tact. 
What a splendid supporter you'd have, one who could 
To your first play good second, if only you would 
Recommend myself to him ; nay, 'pon my life, you 
Would supplant ev'ry man." " But," I answered, " we do 
Not live there in the manner you seem to suppose : 
For no house is more free from, no family knows 
Less the drawbacks you mention : it never does me 
Any harm if a man have more wealth, or should be 
Better read than myself; for we each of us there 
Occupy the place suited to each." " I declare," 
Said he, " this that you tell me's most strange — 'tis, in- 
deed, 
Scarcely credible." When I assur'd him that he'd 
Find it true, he replied, " You inflame my desire 
To be intimate with him." Said I, " You require 
Nothing but just the wish, for your merit is such, 
That you'll take him by storm, and it does not take much 
To secure hib favour — indeed, this is why 
At the first he is scarcely accessible." " I 
Shall not fail in my duty," said he ; " for I will 
Bribe his slaves : — if some day though I call, he should still 
Not admit me, I will not accept the rebuff, 
But will watch for fit times ; and if that's not enough, 



86 



SATIRE IX. 



In some crowded street-crossing* I'll certainly meet him, 
Or will join in l escorting him out and so greet him. 
Man gets nothing in life without toil." As he thus 
Trifled, quite unexpectedly 2 Fuscus met us, 




^Illustration of trivium, or three streets Bivium, a road or street branching 
converging to a point, in the second into two forks, 

distance. 

A dear friend of mine — one, too, who knew the man well. 
So we stopp'd, and to me he cried, "Whence you come tell 
Me, and whither you go ?" and then answers the query 
When 'twas put by myself in the same manner. Here I, 




* Quadrivium (place where four streets cross). 

Both to pull and to pinch arms which seemed to have in 
Them no feeling, and nodding or winking, begin 
To make signs that he should free me ; but with arch smile 
And wit quite out of place he feign'd not to see : — bile 

1 To the Forum, for instance, " deducere " is used of conducting a 
person from his house, and " reducere" for conducting him back again. 

2 Fuscus Aristius, a clever grammarian. 



SATIRE IX. 87 



Then begins to inflame my 1 heart, and I exclaim, 

" You did certainly more than once some business name 

That you wish'd to talk privately over with me." 

" To be sure ; I remember quite well," answer'd he : 

" But I'll tell you at some better time than just now, 

2 For to-day 's a most solemn Jews' festival — how 

Would you like to deride the Jews' most sacred rite ?" 

" I've no scruples." " But I have !" said he ; " I've not quite 

The same strength of mind you have. I think as most men 

Do on these points. Excuse me, and I'll tell you when 

It's more suitable." Here mutter' ol I, " Can it be 

3 That this day should have dawn'd so disastrous to me?" 

So the rogue ran away, leaving me, as it were, 

'Neath the knife of the priest to be slain. But by mere 

Chance the plaintiff then met him, and with a loud shout — 

" Whither bound to, you villain ?" to him he cried out. 

But to me he said, " Here, do you witness th' arrest !" 

4 1 went through the form at his 5 welcome request. 

Into court he then hauls him, on both sides there follow 

Noisy crowds, and thus sav'd me, — my patron 6 Apollo. 

1 A holiday or feast held by the Jews, perhaps on the 30th day of the 
month. 

2 The word in the text rather means " liver." The ancients considered 
the liver the seat of the passions more than we do. 

3 " Surrexe " = surrexisse : so, consumpse for consumpsisse, invasse for 
invasisse, produxe for produxisse. 

4 The form was for the witness to turn the tip of his ear to be touched 
by the summoner. 

5 "Vero," though literally only "indeed," has more meaning here, 
such as "gladly," " as you might expect," "of course." 

6 Apollo was ever regarded as the guardian and defender of poets. 



SATIRE X. 

This Satire is a defence of opinions expressed in the fourth Satire, which 
opinions had been unjustly found fault with by some antiquaries, who 
over-estimated the merit of Lucilius, the " father of Roman 
Satire," whom Horace imitated. It also shows with great taste 
and wit how unable men are to form a right judgment, who praise an 
ancient poet to excess merely from an aversion to a contemporary. 

The first eight lines are not found in most MSS., and although they bear 
the stamp of antiquity to a certain extent, were probably written by 
some grammarian or commentator. 

Why, Lucilius, * Cato himself, who defends 

You so stoutly, — that critic who rough verse emends, 

Will support me, and prove that defects your lines fill. 

2 And his task he discharges with more gentle skill, 

In proportion as he is a much better man, 

And by far more correct a philologist than 

He, who, best of our knights can distinguish the wrong 

From the right with nice taste : who was often by thong, 

When a boy, well 3 admonish'd, or by wet rope's end, 

That there might be a champion who could defend 

The old bards against these modern sneers. But enough. 

I did say that Lucilius' verses were rough. 

And, indeed, who could e'er so absurdly regard 

Him as not to admit it ? And yet this same bard, 



i A grammarian and poet in the time of Sylla. 

2 " Hoc lenius ille : " " Hoc " — " quo," are for the more usual 
'quo." There is an ellipsis of "facit." 

3 "Exhortatus " is used passively: no other instance is found. 



SATIRE X. 89 



In the same 1 Satire too, is commended by me, 

Because the town's vices he lash'd wittily. 

But although I concede him this merit, I would 

Not allow him all others besides, for I should 

Thus 2 Laberius' farces think perfectly good. 

It is not then sufficient to raise a loud laugh 

From an unwilling audience, though there's a half 

Sort of merit in that : but one ought to be terse, 

And make rhythmical every clause of the verse, 

And be careful that no too verbose an expression 

E'er should weary the reader by needless digression. 

Then one ought to adopt language now grave and stern, 

Representing the orator and bard in turn : 

Now use different words that may aptly befit 

The reserv'd and ironical style of a wit : 

For great truths will more often touch deeper the heart 

When convey'd by the jest — not the orator's art, 

3 And the old comic poets gain'd their reputation 

By this style, and in this they deserve imitation : 

Though to these writers dandy Tigellius pays 

No attention, nor he who so apes his fine ways ; 

Who can sing but 4 Catullus' or Calvus' light lays. 



1 He probably refers to the 4th Satire of this book, in the twelfth line 
of this translation. 

2 A Roman knight whose writings were not devoid of comic merit, but 
sometimes too coarse, and written too much for the applause of the lower 
orders. Caesar offered him a sum of money to act his own farces, which 
he did, and remarked in his prologue that a request from the powerful was 
a command. 

3 Eupolis Cratinus and Aristophanes. 

4 Amatory poets. The former was born in the territory of Verona, 
87 B.C.; the latter was an orator as well as a poet, and the friend- of the 
former. . 

H 



90 SATIRE X. 



But Lucilius, some one may answer, achiev'd 

Great success, when with Latin words he interweav'd 

Greek expressions. Ye ignorant dunces ! how can 

Ye think wonderful or hard to do what a man 

Like the Rhodian freedman x Pitholeon could 

Succeed in ? " Nay, but still," answer they, " it is good 

Some Greek words with the Latin to gracefully blend ; 

2 For soft Chian wine will rough Falernian lend 

A smooth flavour it ne'er had before. True, but do 
You mean if you wrote light verse, or also, if you 
Were the advocate in such a desperate cause 

3 As that theft of a crown from the Capitol was ? 

What ! while Rome's greatest pleaders toil'd hard through 

their case 
In good Latin — 4 as though half an Oscan by race, 
6 Half a Greek — would you country and tongue disregard, 
And with foreign expressions your brief interlard ? 
6 Why, when I, though a Roman, once thought I would write 
Greek verses, the shade of Quirinus my sight 
Rose before, when the clock had already struck one ; 
When, as 7 poets say, visions are true, and " My son" — 
Said the warning voice — " one would put fish 
In the ocean with quite as much reason, as wish 



1 A tenth-rate satirist, who, as Suetonius tells us, wrote a lampoon on 
Julius Caesar. 

2 The word "nota" corresponds to our " brand "or " seal." 

3 See foot-note, page 29. 

* Canusium was an Apulian town ; its inhabitants spoke Greek and 
Oscan. 

5 The people of Canusium, in Apulia, spoke both Greek and Oscan. 

6 An idea Horace probably conceived when at Athens studying 
philosophy 

7 " And morning dreams, as poets say, come true." So Ovid, Her., 19, 195. 



SATIRE X. 



91 



Greek authors' too crowded ranks still more to swell." 

Let that ranter x Alpinus the death that befell 

Memnon sing : ( if the bard prov'd his death or the sword 

Of Achilles I know not) — or let him record 

The Rhine's muddy source, as he turgidly chooses 

To describe it, while me the light satire amuses, — 





* Proscenium (stage of ancient 
theatre, including elevated 
Circular end of the ruins of the theatre platform). 

of Marcellus as it now exists at Rome. 

Never meant to be read in the temple of fame, 
Or submitted to critics for praise or for blame ; 
Nor intended to have a great run on the stage.* 
2 Fundanius, you of all men of your age, 

1 Marcus Furius Bibaculus, of Cremona, was called Alpinus from a line 
in his description of the waging of the Gallic war by Caesar. He wrote a 
tragedy called "/Ethiopides,"in which Achilles plays Memnon, a mythical 
king of ^Ethiopia, who went to aid the Trojans. Bibaculus also wrote a 
bombastic account of the Rhine in his history of the Gallic war. 

2 A comic writer after Menander's style, of great eminence, and a friend 
of Maecenas : his works are lost. 






92 SATIRE X. 



In vein tasteful and chatty, your comedies can 
1 Tell us best where the 4 slave and astute courtesan 
Trick an old man, like Chremes in Terence ; then kings 1 
Great exploits in iambic verse 3 Pollio sings ; 
While the fervour of Varius none have surpass'd, 
In building the spirited epic ; — and last, 
Dearest 4 Virgil, the Muse that so joys in the fields 
And the woods, to thy pen gentle elegance yields. 
'Twas this satiric verse that when 5 Varro had tried 
And some others with but small advantage that I'd 
Gain'd some greater success in than they, though I'm still 
Far below 6 him who founded the style, nor e'er will 
I attempt with rash effort to pluck off the crown 
That encircles his brow with such well-earn'd renown. 
Still I did say his lines 7 roll'd like some turbid flood, 
Oft presenting to notice more that critics would 
Fain carp out than approve ; and do you, I pray, find 
In great Homer each verse suit your critical mind ? 
Would Lucilius, with all the taste you assign 
Him, in Accius' tragedies ne'er change a line ? 

1 Garrire comoediam — canere tragoediam : ducere epica. 

2 Davus was a usual name for a slave. He and Chremes are characters 
in the Andria of Terence. 

3 Caius Asinius Pollio was a great literary character, friend of Augustus, 
founder of the first library at Rome, and author of a history of the civil 
war between Caesar and Pompey. The account, however, is lost. 

4 The Bucolics and Georgics were then published, and he was engaged 
on the yEneid. 

5 Varro was a satirist, called " Atacinus " from the Atax, now the 
Aude, a small river in Narbon Gaul. The others are unknown, unless one 
be Saerius Nicanor, a satirist of Sulla's time, and Titus Quinctius Atta 
another. 

6 Lucilius. 

7 Literally, that he flowed on muddily, (bearing) presenting to our notice 
more that ought to be taken away than that which ought to be left. 



SATIRE X. 



93 



1 Nay, does he not Ennius' verses deride, 
As for the grand epic style less dignified 

Than they should be, — and yet of himself all the same, 
Never speak as a poet who merits less blame ? 
Then, as I read Lucilius' writings, pray why 
Should not I, too, see if the rough subject deny, 
Or his own rugged genius, power to pen 

2 Lines more polish' d, more smooth, more artistic than men 





Funeral pyre (pyra) of unhewn wood piled 
in square form with bier on the top. 



Rogus, or funeral pile, in a 
state of combustion. 



Would, who, quite satisfied if they could but conclude 
An hexameter some way, no matter how rude — 
Wrote two hundred verses ere breaking their fast, 
And the same number after the dinner's repast. 
Such the genius of Tuscan 3 Cassius, gushing 
Impetuous, like to a mad torrent rushing : 



i The argument is that a poet and critic who cannot perhaps do so well 
as those he blames, may still use the licence, and still may blame what 
merits critical censure. 

2 Such rough lines as — 

" At tuba terribili sonitu taratantara dixit ;" or — 
* ' O Tite, tute Tati, tibi tanta tyranne tulisti 
Damna." 

3 Cassius was a satirist who wrote so much that his boohs and shelves 
were sufficient to form his funeral pyre. 



94 SATIRE X. 



So prolific his Muse, so they say, that a fire 

His productions and book-chests found for his own pyre.* 

Then suppose, as you urge, and as I ne'er denied, 

That Lucilius has taste and wit — nay, beside, 

That he has greater polish than mostly is seen 

In rough vigorous writing like his, which has been 

Ne'er attempted by Greeks — nay, more polish than all 

1 Older poets possess'd — yet could it but befall 

Him to live in this age, he'd all foreign expressions 

Take away from his verses, cut out all digressions, 

And would, oft in the throes of composing, ere writing 

A line, keep on scratching his head or keep biting 

His nails to the quick. You must often 2 erase, 

If you mean to compose what is worthy of praise 

When a second time read : and don't try to obtain 

The applause of the mob, but contented remain 

With a small and choice audience. Surely you would 

Not absurdly desire that your writings e'er should 

Form heart-lessons in some tenth-rate school ? Well, I 

ne'er 
Could bear such a disgrace; and if gentlemen their 
Applause give me, 'tis ample, — as boldly confess'd 
Rome's 3 actress, when hiss'd, quite ignoring the rest. 

* See cuts on preceding page. 

1 " Poetarum seniorum turba." He refers to Lucius Livius Andronicus, 
who was the first dramatic and epic poet the Romans had, and who lived 
in the 3rd century B.C. ; also to Novius, a famous writer of farces, called 
"Atellane plays," who lived about A.u.c. 660; also to Pacavius, the 
nephew of Ennius, and a celebrated tragedian ; and to Plautus, the great 
comic writer of earlier times. 

2 The upper end of the " stilus" was broad, and used for erasing its 
marks on the waxen tablet; the lower end was sharp, and used for 
writing. 

3 Arbuscula, a fashionable actress. 



SATIRE X. 



95 



Should that poor wretch 1 Pantilius my spleen excite ?- 

If a singer's low 2 toady or dull 3 parasite 

Has revil'd me when absent, should I be distrest ? 

Let 4 my patron, let Virgil, and let all the rest 

Of this more modern school, whether critic or bard, 

Orator or historian, these lines regard 

With approval, and let the two 5 Visci commend 

Them ; and Fuscus Aristius and each dear friend. 





Woman's chair 
(cathedra).* 



Sella, a low seat without 
back, in opposition to 
the chair or cathedra. 



Woman's reclining chair 
(cathedra supina). 



And, without courting favour, thee, Pollio, — thee, — 

And thy brother, Messalla Corvinus ; and ye 

Too, Calpurnius and Servius, shall have mention : 

For I trust that my works will engage the attention 

Of you all, be their merit whatever it may : — 

Nay, of more, — of whom, though men of letters, I say 



1 A wretched poet called " Cimex," because his satire was as coarse and 
biting as the insect of that name. 

2 Fannius was a toady of Tigellius. 
8 Demetrius aped Tigellius. 

4 The best poets and critics of the day, and his friends. 

5 The Visci, two knights of senatorial rank, 

6 Cathedras = ladies seated in cathedra. 



g6 SATIRE X. 



Nothing wittingly, though they're my friends ; for I trust 
That these satiric lines will please all : as they must, 
If I be not griev'd deeply — but this my command 

To thee, singer, and thy imitator : " Go ! and * " 

Well, no !— quaver love-ditties amid the fine ladies 

And the ballet-girls, whom to teach singing your trade is. 

Slave, — away : to write down these last lines quickly run, 
In my First Book of Satires now ended and done. 



1 N.B. — There is a "double entendre" in the word "plorare," which 
implies " to go and be hanged," or " to sing effeminately." 



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